204 THE FRUITS OF THE COUNTRY-SIDE 



with its secular use have since grown up and its employ- 

 ment in the church might not tend to edification, or 

 awaken thoughts altogether adapted to the genius loci 

 when seen suspended in close proximity to the family 

 pew. It is just one of those cases that sometimes arise 

 where things lawful are not always expedient, and so, 

 while holly and ivy and laurel and their fellows find 

 ready entrance at the church door the mistletoe must be 

 content to remain outside. 



Hence, too, in our old cathedrals and stately churches, 

 while the stone carving, in the capitals and elsewhere, 

 shows loving appreciation of natural beauty in the abundant 

 presentment of oak, maple, hawthorn, ivy, buttercup, 

 and many other plants of charming decorative service, 

 we know of but one example of the use of the mistletoe, 

 and are greatly surprised that there should be even that 

 one. It may be seen carved on a tomb in Bristol Cathedral. 

 The mistletoe has really great decorative possibilities, and 

 we wonder that it has not found a readier use amongst 

 our designers. 



Herrick, full of quaint fancy, finding ever valuable 

 lessons in the commonest and most unlikely things, sees 

 in this neglected mistletoe a beautiful emblem of his 

 dependence upon the care of Providence — 



Lord, I am like the mistletoe, 

 Which has no root, and cannot grow. 

 Or prosper, save by that same tree 

 It clings about ; so I by Thee. 



The mistletoe belongs to a family that is chiefly tropical, 

 and is an excellent illustration of a parasite, a plant de- 

 riving its nourishment and power of growth from some 



