GILBERT white's BOOK 177 



amid spacious grounds, as one has been led to be- 

 lieve. I looked a long time for his tomb amid the 

 graves that surrounded the old church, and finally 

 found a plain slab with "G. W." upon it, and. that 

 was all. There was no mark that indicated that 

 the grave was more frequently visited than any 

 other. The church is essentially the same as in 

 White's time, and the immense yew that stands 

 near the entrance must date back several hundred 

 years. The yew is a striking-looking tree. In 

 this country the species is represented by a low, 

 reclining bush, which reaches out laterally, with 

 but a slight tendency upward. In England the 

 lateral tendency of growth is still very marked, the 

 trunk being short and squat, and by its ridgy, cor- 

 rugated character looking more like a bundle or 

 sheaf of smaller trees than like a single bole. 



Thus far White stands alone among English 

 writers in his field. Much pleasant literature has 

 of late years been inspired by nature-studies in 

 Great Britain, but the new books have not quite 

 the sweetness and charm, not quite the sincerity, 

 of that of the Selborne parson. 



