THE ELM. 89 



one of the finest illustrations of the Divine munificence. England, 

 owing to this sublime power of self-accommodation on the part of 

 plants, is now the permanent Flower-show of the whole world. True, 

 it is through the ingenuity of the florist that very many are alone 

 persuaded to dwell with us and to enjoy life ; his success in reconciling 

 them to their new abode comes, however, of their primitive flexibility 

 under kind treatment, Plants, like women and chamaeleons, wax 

 bright or become dim according to the light that is cast upon them : 

 yet not alone by reason of the light, but because of the sweet reflecting 

 mystery within. 



In the questioned native country of the elm -tree is involved, 

 accordingly, no new or solitary idea ; it is simply one of those which 

 constitute the history of the interchange of hospitalities. In any case, 

 the tree is so thoroughly rooted in old England that now it matters 

 little whether it be an alien or otherwise. For centuries it has been 

 linked with many of the happiest thoughts that are the privilege of 

 Englishmen ; and as long as the glory of old family mansions and 

 of ancestral avenues shall endure, so long will the stately elm be a 

 household word. The great height which it attains ; the peculiar and 

 gradually expanding form of the head ; the grand super-columniation of 

 the pillared branches ; and the massiveness and circularity of the main 

 stem, are qualities which adapt it more than any other for an ornament 

 of the park and of the grounds that immediately adjoin, and more 

 particularly still, for planting in those duplicate lines which by-and-bye 

 develop into the Avenue, say rather, into the living Cathedral nave ; 

 of which, let it be noted, there are no finer examples possible than in 

 the avenues in Kensington Gardens, and that majestic one which 

 sweeps down the slope in front of Redland Court, near Bristol, then 

 rises again, graceful as some light boat upon the waters, every tree a 

 tower of verdure, illustrious at every season, and when in the pride of 

 its green summer, and slaking its mighty thirst in the drowsy sunshine, 

 lifting up our hearts with delight and admiration. For grand old trees, 

 such as these elms, like the stars, seem'to look down into our hearts, 

 and resting there, make them partakers of their own greatness. 



Listen, too, to the inhabitants ! Not always a city, but how often 

 are these beautiful trees, the elms, the seat of a thousand birds of the 

 dark wing ! The two things seem so naturally to go together, that 

 rooks' feathers upon the ground, so black, so clean, so smooth, so 

 glossy, with their beautiful white and slender quills, seem almost a 

 produce of the tree itself. To watch these birds sailing in their calm 



