ELM. 173 



furthest termination of the meadow spread an upland 

 pasture, where sheep grazed ; and further still, an extensive 

 woodland clothed a rugged acclivity, with its broken bank 

 and summer flowers. Standing alone in umbrageous ma- 

 jesty, there was none other like it ; no woodcutter had ever 

 shortened a single branch, and its stately unlopped head 

 rose as a beacon in the surrounding country. 



That elm-tree was the first to welcome the coming back 

 of showers and warm sunbeams, with its light and cheerful 

 green leaves ; and in autumn how beautiful the blended 

 hues of its bright yellow leaves, when the sun shone bright, 

 and the shadow of one leaf fell obliquely on another 

 quivering leaf, till it seemed as if that one bright yellow 

 hue had a thousand varied changes from yellow to the 

 deepest brown. 



I have seen the noble tree, when stripped of its leaves 

 by frost and winds, thrown out in bold relief against a 

 cloudy sky, with its grand proportions fully developed. 

 How gracefully spread the branches on either side of 



