LAMBETH PALACE 
grounds by the presence in great numbers of magnificent speci- 
mens of the ailanthus, commonly and picturesquely named the 
‘Tree of Heaven.” It is singularly prolific, continually sending 
up suckers, and there must be at least a hundred examples at 
Lambeth, for I myself, one day counted eighty! ‘‘The Tree of 
Heaven,” or ‘‘ Tree of the Gods,” has a strong family likeness 
to the ash, and is own sister to the sumach. Can there be any 
subtle connection between the Scandinavian idea of the great 
World-tree ‘* Yggdrasil”’—the ash-tree of existence, whose top- 
most branches stretched up to Asgard, and whose roots reached 
down to the regions of Hela, Queen of the Dead—and the “‘ Tree 
of Heaven” in the garden of a Christian prelate? Anyway, 
these foreign-looking trees with their fern-like foliage, and signifi- 
cant and picturesque name, give a distinct character to Lambeth, 
where they are more in evidence than anywhere else; and here, 
therefore, of all places, one may feel that with 
“* The kiss of the sun for pardon, 
The song of the birds for mirth, 
One is nearer to God in a garden 
Than anywhere else on earth,” 
G1 
