le times she was
plain Flora.

Being human, this lady had a great dread of being forgotten when she
had left the world. So she devised a plan to keep her memory green. She
made a will giving her large fortune to the city of Rome, on condition
that a festival in her memory should be celebrated every year.

When the will came before the grave and reverend Roman senators, it
caused serious talk. To decline so rich a gift was not to be thought
of; yet to accept the condition they did not like, for it was a bold
request in Madam Flora, who had, to say the least, done nothing worthy
of celebrating. At last, according to the old story-tellers, a way out
of the difficulty was found, as there generally is; and the city
fathers decided to accept the terms, and make Flora worthy of the honor
by placing her among their minor deities, of which there were no less
than thirty thousand. She took her place as Goddess of Flowers, with a
celebration about the first of May, to be called Floralia, after her.

This little story may be a fable; but now I shall tell you some facts.
When the Romans came to Britain to live, many hundred years ago, they
brought, of course, their own customs and festivals, among which was
this one in memory of Flora. The heathen--our ancestors, you
know--adopted them with delight, being in the childhood of their race.
They became very popular; and when, some years later, a good priest,
Gregory, came (from Rome also) to convert the natives, he wisely took
advantage of their fondness for festivals, and not trying to suppress
them, he simply altered them from heathen feasts to Christian games, by
substituting the names of saints and martyrs for heathen gods and
goddesses. Thus the Floralia became May-day celebration, and lost none
of its popularity by the change. On the contrary, it was carried on all
over England for ages, till its origin would have been lost but for a
few pains-taking old writers, who "made notes" of everything.

The Floralia we care nothing for, but the May-day games have lasted
nearly to our day, and some relics of it still survive in our young
country. When you crown a May queen, or go with a May party, you are
simply following a custom that the Romans began, and that our remote
ancestors in England carried to such lengths, that not only ordinary
people, but lords and ladies, and even king and queen, laid aside their
state and went "a-Maying" early in the morning, to wash their faces in
May