152 



Celastnis scaiidais. 



pinched off a nail from my finger. There, in the shed-chamber, is the corner 

 where I estabhshed Ellen's baby-house ; here the nail on which my skates 

 summered. In the garden, the lilac, the quince, and the damson, all have 

 their memories. Father and mother are gone, and brother now has the 

 homestead ; but it is in no small degree the embodiment of the souls of 

 the departed. To such a relic, St. Peter's bones are a mere trifle. They 

 were never so much a part of the apostle as the little contrivances of the 

 departed were a part of his soul. 



But alas for him whose parents were wont to move annually ! His early 

 recollections are all a jumble. His bed was in every part of the house, 

 which fronted every point of the compass. Days of confusion stand 

 prominent. In such a moving, the piano received that ugly scratch ; in 

 another, the screw of the coffee-mill was lost ; and, in the next, the drawer 

 from the candle-stand. In such a house, our three-weeks' stay was but a 

 hopeless battle with vermin ; at another, we discovered, after months of 

 sickness, that the well received contributions from neighboring cesspools. 

 Surely it could be but little worse to connect one's earliest recollections 

 with a foundling-hospital. 



" Home ! " — sacred word, known to so few languages of earth, and to none 

 better than the English. It does not mean the parks and cafis of Paris, 

 or the streets of Naples, but a roof under which each watches for the hap- 

 piness of each and of all. The first earthly home was in a garden ; and 

 the employment of its sinless, blessed occupants was " to dress it and to 

 keep it." Without a garden, no home is perfect ; without ownership, a per- 

 fect home is not even to be thought of; and, without a home, no good de- 

 gree of earthly happiness. Therefore let every man own his garden.. 



CELASTRUS SCANDENS. 



This hardy native climber deserves more general cultivation. It is vari- 

 ously known as Roxbury Wax- Work or Climbing Bittersweet, For cover- 

 ing a trellis, there is nothing better ; and it takes care of itself if once 

 planted. Whether in foliage or fruit, it is ornamental. 



