Hellebore

“ The good women give the leaves powdered to children troubled with worms; but it is a violent remedy, and ought to be administered with caution.
Helleborus viridis, green hellebore, — in the deep stony lane on the left hand just before the turning to Norton-farm, and at the top of Middle Dorton under the hedge: this plant dies down to the ground early in autumn, and springs again about February, flowering almost as soon as it appears above ground. ”

“ Hellebore, hel′e-bōr, n. a plant of the genus Helleborus (Ranunculaceæ) , whose root possesses drastic purgative properties, anciently used as a cure for insanity—varieties are the Black Hellebore or Christmas Rose, the Stinking and the Green Hellebore; similar plants of other genera are the Winter Hellebore and the American False or White Hellebore, known also as Indian Poke or Itch Weed. [Fr. hellébore—L. helleborus—Gr. helleboros.]
Hellenic, hel-len′ik, or hel-lē′nik, Hellenian, hel-lē′ni-an, adj. pertaining to the Hellenes or Greeks: Grecian, in art, esp. ”

“ White hellebore is Veratrum album (see Veratrum) , a liliaceous plant.
Hellebores may be grown in any ordinary light garden mould, but thrive best in a soil of about equal parts of turfy loam and well-rotted manure, with half a part each of fibrous peat and coarse sand, and in moist but thoroughly-drained situations, more especially where, as at the margins of shrubberies, the plants can receive partial shade in summer. For propagation cuttings of the rhizome may be taken in August, and placed in pans of light soil, with a bottom heat of 60° to 70° Fahr. ”

“ From this circumstance, Hellebore became celebrated as a medicine, and was speedily regarded with superstitious reverence by the ignorant populace. Thus, Black Hellebore was used to purify houses, and to hallow dwellings, and the ancients entertained the belief that by strewing or perfuming their apartments with this plant, they drove away evil spirits. ”

“ As we wander through the silent woods we see patches of anemones, white and blue, lying upon the leaf-strewn ground, and beside them in many places are tufts of the pale starry primroses; coarse spurge, and lush masses of the hellebore with its large pale green flowers and dark leaves are common enough on all sides. ”

“ Strew the roots of black hellebore, at night, in the places infested by these vermin, and they will be found in the morning dead or dying. Black hellebore grows in marshy grounds, and may be had at the herb shops. ”

“ The hellebores come within our enumeration of the January flora, and of these the bearsfoot or fœtid hellebore (Helleborus fœtidus) is the earliest in flower. It grows to a height oftentimes of two feet. ”

“ So much was claimed by ancient doctors for the Black Hellebore as a medicine in mania, epilepsy, dropsy, and other ills to which mortals are heirs, that naturally the true plant was sought with much zeal. ”

“ Feverfew is said to be "good for such as be melancholike, sad, pensive, and without speech." Syrup made of flowers of borage "comforteth the heart, purgeth the melancholy, and quieteth the phrenticke or lunaticke person." Hellebore, of course, has its virtues recognized. Black hellebore, or the Christmas rose, "purgeth all melancholy humors, yet not without trouble and difficultie, therefore it is not to be given but to robustious and strong bodies as Mesues teacheth. ”

“ It is not a bad-looking fellow, but awkward and hulking, and quite devoid of the sickly grace of the henbane or of the bodeful gloom of the dwale. [Pg 142]
Passing now to the handsome but acrid tribe of the ranunculi, and omitting the poisonous but interesting baneberry, of which I have already spoken, we come to two formidable plants, the hellebore and the monk's-hood, which have been famous from earliest times for their dangerous propensities. ”

“ Whether Quails from any idiosyncracy or peculiarity of constitution, do innocuously feed upon Hellebore, or rather sometime but medically use the same; because we perceive that Stares, which are commonly said harmlessly to feed on Hemlock, do not make good the tradition ”

“ VERATRUM. The Greek physicians were acquainted with a poisonous herb which they called white hellebore, and which has been supposed to represent the Veratrum album of modern botanists. Be this as it may, in modern times the name has been applied to a genus of herbaceous plants belonging to the natural order Liliaceae. Veratrum is a tall-growing herb, having a fibrous root-stock, an erect stem, with numerous broad, plicated leaves placed alternately, and terminal, much-branched clusters of greenish or purplish polygamous flowers. ”

“ It was perfectly described or figured by Brunfels, Tragus, and other botanists of the 16th century, and likewise well known to Gerarde (circa a.d. 1600) . Under the names of Elleborus (or Helleborus albus) and Veratrum, it has had a place in all the London Pharmacopœias. In the British Pharmacopœia (1867) it has been replaced by the nearly allied American species, Veratrum viride Aiton.
Description—White Hellebore has a cylindrical, fleshy, perennial rootstock, 2 to 3 inches in length, and 3⁄4 to 1 inch in diameter, beset with long stout roots. When fresh it has an alliaceous smell. ”

“ When we see the helleborus fœtidus and helleborus niger blowing at Christmas, the helleborus hyemalis in January, and the helleborus viridis as soon as ever it emerges out of the ground, we do not wonder, because they are kindred plants that we expect should keep pace the one with the other; but other congenerous vegetables differ so widely in their time of flowering, that we cannot but admire. ”

“ Lady Hellayne," she continued, hardly noting the expression of horror and loathing that had crept into Hellayne's countenance. "You have heard of me—you know who I am—and what! Those who went before me were the same, generations, perchance. It rankles in our blood. But there is salvation—even for such as myself. To few it comes, but I have seen the star. It is the love of a man, pure and true. Where such a one is found, even the darkness of the grave is dispelled. I have lived and loved, Lady Hellayne! I have been loved as few women have. ”

“ There was in Paris a young creature, (ah! Philintus!) formed in a prodigality of Nature, to show mankind a finished composition; dear Heloise! the reputed niece of one Fulbert a canon. Her wit and her beauty would have fired the dullest and most insensible heart; and her education was equally admirable. Heloise was a mistress of the most polite arts. You may easily imagine that this did not a little help to captivate me. I saw her; I loved her; I resolved to endeavour to gain her affections. ”

“ Then it is that Heloise, who dares not think of you by day, resigns herself with pleasure to see and hear you. How my eyes gloat over you! Sometimes you tell me stories of your secret troubles, and create in me a felt sorrow; sometimes the rage of our enemies is forgotten and you press me to you and I yield to you, and our souls, animated with the same passion, are sensible of the same pleasures. But O! delightful dreams and tender illusions, how soon do you vanish away! I awake and open my eyes to find no Abelard: I stretch out my arms to embrace him and he is not there ”

“ It was at this time that he became acquainted with a very beautiful young girl named Heloise. She was only eighteen years of age, yet already she possessed not only beauty, but many accomplishments which were then quite rare in women, since she both wrote and spoke a number of languages, and, like Abelard, was a lover of music and poetry. Heloise was the illegitimate daughter of a canon of patrician blood; so that she is said to have been a worthy representative of the noble house of the Montmorencys—famous throughout French history for chivalry and charm. ”

“ She loved study; and being a mistress of the learned languages, the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, she was esteemed a miracle of learning.
Abelard, in a letter he wrote to the Religious of his new house, says expressly, that Heloise understood these three languages. The Abbot of Clugni, likewise, in a letter he wrote to her, tells her, she excelled in learning not only all her sex, but the greatest part of men†. And in the calendar of the house of the Paraclete she is recorded in these words: Heloise, mother and first abbess of this place, famous for her learning and religion. ”

“ Our misfortunes gave you a horror of vice, and you instantly consecrated the rest of your days to virtue, and seemed to submit willingly to the necessity. I indeed, more tender than you, and more sensible to pleasure, bore misfortune with extreme impatience, and you have heard my exclaimings against your enemies. You have seen my resentment in my late letters; it was this, doubtless, which deprived me of the esteem of my Abelard. You were alarmed at my repinings, and, if the truth be told, despaired of my salvation. You could not foresee that Heloise would conquer so reigning a passion ”

“ Hellayne interposed calmly.
He felt as if an immense darkness, the chaos of a thousand spheres, suddenly encompassed him, threatening to plunge him into a bottomless abyss of despair.
Then he made a quick forward step. Her face was close to his. Wide eyes fastened upon him in a compelling gaze.
"Tell me!" he urged, his own eyes lost in those unfathomable wells of dreams. "When love is with you—does aught matter? Does sin—discovery—God himself—matter?" ”

“ Hellayne regarded the speaker as if she thought she had gone mad.
"Give him to you?" she said, hardly above a whisper, but her tone stung Theodora to the quick.
"To me!" she said. "Look at me! Am I not beautiful? Am I not created to make man happy? What woman may match herself with me? Even your pale beauty, Lady Hellayne, is but as a disembodied wraith as compared to mine. To me! To me! You are young, Lady Hellayne. What can the sacrifice matter to you? To you it can mean little. There are other men with whom you may be happy. For me it spells salvation—or eternal doom! ”

“ But Providence has turned off this blow, and our shipwreck has thrown us into an haven. There are some whom the mercy of God saves by afflictions. Let my salvation be the fruit of your prayers! let me owe it to your tears, or exemplary holiness! Tho' my heart, Lord! be filled with the love of one of thy creatures, thy hand can, when it pleases, draw out of it those ideas which fill its whole capacity. To love Heloise truly is to leave her entirely to that quiet which retirement and virtue afford. ”

“ Then he said, "He came—as I told you—to think that it was right and best for him to do so. An artist, darling, has to think of the Four Last Things, like anybody else!"
"The Four Last Things!" said Laura, startled. "What do you mean?"
"Death—Judgment—Heaven—and Hell."
The words fell slowly from the half-whispering voice into the quiet darkness of the chapel. Laura looked up—Helbeck's eyes, fixed upon the crucifix over the altar, seemed to receive thence a stem and secret message to which the whole man responded. ”

“ How different, yet how grand, is the gentle Heloise, more remarkable for her faithful affection, than for her learning and talents, choosing rather to be dishonored in the world's estimation, than to injure her craven husband by avowing their marriage. ”

“ Know you from whose minions my Africans rescued you on yester eve?"
Hellayne's wide eyes were silent questioners.
"Then listen well and ponder. You were in the power of the Lord Basil. And that which he desires he usually obtains."
Hellayne covered her face with her hands.
"The Lord Basil!"
"You know him, Lady Hellayne?"
"Slightly. He was wont to call upon the man I once called my husband."
"The man you deserted for another."
Hellayne's eyes glittered like steel.
"That is a matter which concerns only myself, Lady Theodora," she said coldly. "You saved my honor—perchance my life. ”

“ The region of the Trastevere at the period of our story was but sparsely populated, and the great convent, with its church of Santa Maria, dominated the lowly fisher huts, scattered over its precincts. Hellayne, during these quiet evening hours, when only the sounds of far-off chimes from churches and convents smote the silence with their silver tongues, and during which hours the Abbess of Santa Maria permitted her to leave the silent walls of her asylum for a short walk to the Tiber's edge, rarely ever saw a human being. ”

“ The old Baron is mostly with the sailors, and Héloise slept a good deal. Every now and then Hippolyte came out from his cooking place, and one saw his baboon face appearing on a level with the deck floor, and he would explain all the places we passed, and it always ended with: "Il ne faut pas que Mme. La Baronne pionce c'est très très intéressant."
I can't tell you what a drôle creature he is. Héloise woke up presently and talked to me; she said if it was not for the Tournelles she could not stand the Château de Croixmare and Victorine. ”

“ Nevertheless, during the time that Helbeck and Augustina were pacing the sands together, Fountain went through a good deal of uneasiness. One never knew how or where this damned poison in the blood might break out again. That young fanatic, a Jesuit already by the look of him, would of course try all their inherited Mumbo Jumbo upon her; and what woman is at bottom anything more than the prey of the last speaker? ”

“ These forms brought on a controversy with Bernard, who did 205 not like them. The letters also are still extant, often translated, but never in anything except the original Latin, speaking out the real nature of the writers. On the part of Heloise they reveal the depth of an unending love. On the part of Abelard they are as cold and occasionally as cruel as anything to which a translator can turn his pen. After a careful survey of their contents the conclusion is irresistible that Heloise is a woman whose lofty love carries with it unhesitatingly the mind, the will, the senses—everything. ”