

THE WILLOW. 819 



footpath bridge, which it half conceals, or some glassy 

 pool, over which it hangs its streaming foliage, 



" and dips 

 Its pendent boughs, stooping as if to drink." 



In these situations it appears in character, and of course 

 to advantage. Nowhere is it more beautiful than on the 

 banks of the Thames, where are some of the finest 

 specimens in England. 



The date of the introduction of this tree into England 

 is unknown ; but it is certainly not earlier than the 

 beginning of the last century, or the close of the seven- 

 teenth, when the first tree was planted at Twickenham, 

 either by Mr. Vernon, a merchant of Aleppo, or by Pope. 

 This was a favourite tree with the poet, and after his death 

 became the object of so much curiosity that the possessor 

 of his villa cut it down, to avoid being annoyed by persons 

 who came to see it. Another account states that it was 

 first planted at Kew, in 1692. 



Few trees have obtained greater celebrity from their 

 locality than that known as Napoleon's Willow. Loudon 

 informs us that this tree was introduced into St. Helena 

 from Britain by General Beatson, 1810. It was planted 

 among other trees on the side of a valley near a spring ; 

 and having attracted the notice of Napoleon, he had a seat 

 placed under it, and used to go and sit there very frequently, 

 and have water brought to him from the adjoining fountain. 

 About the time of Napoleon's death, in 1821, a storm 

 shattered the Willow in pieces, and after the interment of 

 the emperor Madame Bertrand planted several cuttings 

 from it on the outside of the railing which surrounded the 

 grave. As none of these flourished, they were renewed 

 in 1828 ; and from one of them, which outstripped the 

 rest, were brought most of the cuttings which have been 

 reared in various parts of the country. The oldest now in 

 existence in Europe derived from this stock stands in the 

 garden of the Roebuck Tavern on Richmond Hill, having 



