74 THE ELM. 



where they were first deposited ? Everywhere the 

 soil gives willing nutriment; and though the in- 

 clemencies and the asperities of certain climates do 

 certainly prevent the universal extension of plants, 

 the capacity of self-adaptation to an immense variety 

 of latitude and longitude, remains one of the most 

 striking facts in physiology, and one of the finest 

 illustrations of the Divine munificence. England, 

 owing to this 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 plants are alone per- 

 suaded to dwell with us and to enjoy life ; his success 

 in reconciling them to their new abode comes, how- 

 ever, of their primitive flexibility under kind treat- 

 ment. Plants, like women and chameleons, 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 other- 

 wise. 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 



