114. But the investiture of the lily of Florence with scarlet is a
symbol,--unintentional, observe, but not the less notable,--of the
recovery of human sense and intelligence in this matter. The reign of
war was past; this was the sign of it;--the red glow, not now of the
Towers of Dis, but of the Carita, "che appena fora dentro al fuoco
nota." And a day is coming, be assured, when the kings of Europe will
dress their peaceful troops beautifully; will clothe their peasant
girls "in scarlet, with other delights," and "put on ornaments of gold
upon _their_ apparel;" when the crocus and the lily will not be the
only living things dressed daintily in our land, and the glory of the
wisest monarchs be indeed, in that their people, like themselves, shall
be, at least in some dim likeness, "arrayed like one of these."
115. But as for the immediate behaviour of Florence herself, with her
new standard, its colour was quite sufficiently significant in that old
symbolism, when the first restrial bearing was drawn by dying fingers
dipped in blood. The Guelphic revolution had put her into definite
political opposition with her nearest, and therefore,--according to the
custom and Christianity of the time,--her hatefullest, neighbours,--
Pistoja, Pisa, Siena, and Volterra.
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