nce being the chief sign
of grace." The expression is several times used by Shakespeare. In
"Richard II." (iii. 4) the gardener narrates:

"Here did she fall a tear; here, in this place
I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace:
Rue, even for ruth, here shortly shall be seen,
In the remembrance of a weeping queen."

[507] Ellacombe's "Plant-Lore of Shakespeare," p. 204; Prior's
"Popular Names of British Plants," 1870, p. 111.

In "Hamlet" (iv. 5), Ophelia, when addressing the queen, says, "There's
rue for you; and here's some for me: we may call it herb-grace o'
Sundays: O, you must wear your rue with a difference."[508]

[508] Cf. "All's Well that Ends Well," iv. 5; "Antony and
Cleopatra," iv. 2; "Romeo and Juliet," ii. 3, where Friar
Laurence says:

"In man as well as herbs, grace and rude will."

Malone observes that there is no ground for supposing that rue was
called "herb of grace" from its being used in exorcisms in churches on
Sunday, a notion entertained by Jeremy Taylor, who says, referring to
the _Flagellum Daemonum_, "First, they (the Romish exorcisers) are to try
the devil by holy water, incense, sulphur, rue, which from thence, as we
suppose, came to be called 'herb of grace.'"[509] Rue was also a common
subject of puns, from being the same word which signified sorrow or pity
(see "Richard II.," iii. 4, cited above).

[509] "A Dissuasive from Popery," pt. i. chap. ii. sec. 9; see
Dyce's "Glossary," p. 371.

_Holy Thistle._ The Carduus Benedictus, called also "blessed thistle,"
was so named, like other plants which bear the specific name of
"blessed," from its supposed power of counteracting the effect of
poison.[510] Cogan, in his "Haven of Health," 1595, says, "This herbe
may worthily be called _Benedictus_, or _Omnimorbia_, that is, a salve
for every sore, not known to physitians of old time, but lately revealed
by the special providence of Almighty God." It is alluded to in "Much
Ado About Nothing" (iii. 4):

"_Margaret._ Get you some of this distilled Carduus
Benedictus, and lay it to your heart; it is the only thing for
a qualm.

_Hero._ There thou prickest her with a thistle.

_Beatrice._ Benedictus! why Benedictus? you have some moral in
this Benedictus.

_Margaret._ Moral? no, by my troth, I have no moral meaning. I
meant, plain holy-thistle."

[510] Nares's "Glossary," vol. i. p. 464.

_Ins