THE MAPLE AND THE SYCAMORE. 



JUST as men have 'their periods of worldly success, 

 or of public honour, or of fame in art or in literature, 

 at various ages (showing that there is no necessary 

 connection between the number of birthdays and 

 the hour of triumph), so is it with the special glory 

 or beauty of trees, considered in relation to their 

 annual history : some, that is to say, are most 

 charming at the time of their earliest leaf, the beech 

 to wit; others look best when the foliage is mature ; 

 others when they are in blossom; others, again, 



