38 THE GARDEN OF EARTH 



have ever seen ; thousands and thousands of them ; some 

 beautiful; some curious; some sweet-smelling; some 

 interesting. But, indeed, we may say that in one way 

 or another all are interesting; and that very few are 

 without some touch of beauty. 



And the Trees; first the Pines and the Firs — cone- 

 bearing — and the multitude of Palms. And then the 

 immense varieties of Forest trees; not perhaps most 

 of them really higher on the Ladder of Life than many 

 flowering plants of a smaller growth. Yet they are so 

 tall and stately that we might wrongly place them at 

 the top. Can anything be more beautiful or more 

 gi^and than an ancient Oak ; or a great Beech, sweeping 

 its branches to the ground; or a splendid Cedar of 

 Lebanon; or a gigantic Wellingtonia with a trunk so 

 huge that a dozen people might sit down to dinner 

 within its bark; or a vast Indian Banyan-tree, with 

 its numberless root-trunks? 



Think of the extraordinary difference between one 

 of these and a rolling invisible speck of jelly in a pond. 

 Yet both are alive ; both grow ; both belong to the same 

 Vegetable Kingdom. 



" Large streams from little fountains flow. 

 Tall Oaks from little acorns grow." ^ 



" I know a bank where the Wild Thyme blows, 

 Where Oxlips and the nodding Violet grows ; 

 Quite over-canopied with luscious Woodbine, 

 With sweet Musk-roses, and with Eglantine." ^ 



1 David Everett. 



2 Midsummer Night's Dream. 



