ypha, or the
very common kind peculiar to the far East, but that long-lost variety
prized by the Crusaders as a holy emblem of their zeal and pilgrimage)
was, in all probability, a member of the same genus to which the
'Resurrection Flower' belongs. This opinion is supported by the fact
that resemblances of the 'flower,' both open and closed, are sculptured
upon some of the tombs of the Crusaders--two, in the Temple Church of
London, and several in the Cathedrals of Bayeux and Rouen in Normandy,
where lie some of the most renowned followers of Peter the Hermit.

A brother of Dr. Deck, engaged in antiquarian research in the island of
Malta, discovered the same device graven upon the knights' tombs, and
invariably on that portion of the shield, the 'dexter chief,' which was
considered the place of highest honor. This gentleman has also furnished
the following quotation from an old monkish manuscript, describing 'a
wonder obtained from Jerusalem by the holy men, and called by them the
'Star of Bethlehem,' as, if exposed to the moon on the eve of the
Epiphany, it would become wondrous fair to view, and like unto the star
of the Saviour; and with the first glory of the sun, it would return to
its lowliness.'

Doubtless the old chroniclers, had they lived in these days of evidence
and 'solid fact,' would have given some credit to the heavy dews
peculiar to moonlight nights, an exposure to which would assuredly have
produced all the effect of immersion upon the flower.

The fact of so close a representation of the 'Resurrection Flower' being
upon the tombs of the Crusaders, added to the circumstance that in his
Egyptian researches he had never met with any allusion to it, induced
Dr. Deck to discard the story of its Egyptian origin as untenable. 'I
have unwrapped many mummies myself,' he wrote, 'and have had
opportunities of being present at unrolling of others of all classes,
and have never discovered another Resurrection Flower, nor heard of any
one who had; and in the examination of hieroglyphics of every age and
variety, I never discovered anything bearing the remotest resemblance to
it. Those who are conversant with the wonderful features of the Egyptian
religion and priestcraft, will observe how eagerly they seized upon and
deified anything symbolical of their mysterious tenets, and transmitted
them to posterity, figured as hieroglyphics; and it is but natural to
presume that this homely-looking flower, with its halo,