1 24 PROSERPINA. 



subtlety connected with this main one. What 

 shall we say of the plants whose entire destiny 

 is parasitic — which are not only sometimes, 

 and 2'wpertinently, but always, and pertinently, 

 out of place ; not only out of the right place, 

 but out of any place of their own ? When is 

 mistletoe, for instance, in the right place, young 

 ladies, think you ? On an apple tree, or on a 

 ceiling ? When is ivy in the right place ? — when 

 wallflower ? The ivy has been torn down from 

 the towers of Kenilworth ; the weeds from the 

 arches of the Coliseum, and from the steps of the 

 Araceli, — irreverently, vilely, and in vain ; but how 

 are we to separate the creatures whose office it 

 is to abate the grief of ruin by their gentleness, 



" wafting wallflower scents 

 From out the crumbling ruins of fallen pride, 

 And chambers of transgression, now forlorn," 



from those which truly resist the toil of men, and 

 conspire against their fame ; which are cunning to 

 consume, and prolific to encumber ; and of whose 

 perverse and unwelcome sowing we know, and can 

 say assuredly, " An enemy hath done this." 



10. Again. The character of strength which gives 

 prevalence over others to any common plant, is 

 more or less consistently dependent on woody fibre 



