THE HOLLISTON ELMS 



his attention during the years of his ad- 

 ministration of the State government were 

 the two trees towering, then as now, close 

 to the highway near East HoIIiston. It 

 was the Governor's habit to request his 

 driver to stop where the trees might be 

 viewed to the best advantage, and there, 

 for a few silent moments, His Excellency 

 would absorb the influence of their omnipres- 

 ence; he would then drive on with uncovered 

 head, deeming that such manifestations of 

 the work of the Great Craftsman deserved 

 the respect and admiration of all men, what- 

 ever their rank and station in life. 



Governor Lincoln was not the only high 

 public official on whom the HoIIiston Elms, 

 even at that early date, had made their 

 impression. The great Washington had 

 passed this way in 1789, and had rested 

 beneath their shade. The Father of His 

 Country was far from demonstrative, but 

 it is known that he sincerely revered the 

 great monuments of nature, and, either by 

 chance or design, selected his ground, when 

 a halt was called, with the instinct of a true 



