CHAPTER XIX. 



BOX-TBEE. 



Buxus sempervirens. 



How beautiful, in this my growing-place, 

 Am I, a lone box-tree, with snowy mantle 

 Thrown gracefully above my vest of green. 



MEN, in the time of Charles the Second, used to regard my 

 family with respect ; but now, said an old box-tree, we 

 are considered of small worth. Then it was that, being 

 held in honour, your forefathers were wont to replace the 

 Christmas evergreens with sprigs of our branches on Can- 

 dlemas-day, and afterwards with a succession of flowers, 

 and that children, being trained up with equal respect for 



