SION 
grounds a cedar of Lebanon of such mighty girth that it almost 
looks as if it might have been contemporary with it, if cedars 
had been known in England when the Lord Protector made 
his unfortunate building venture. But it is generally agreed that 
Evelyn introduced the cedar to England. He mentions in his 
“* Sylva,” published in 1664, that he had received “‘ cones and seeds 
from the mountains of Lebanon.” The Sion cedars were probably 
planted about 1670. 
With regard to the cypresses which still gusand at Sion, Dr. 
Turner, physician to Edward VI. and to his uncle, the Lord Pro- 
tector, who ‘dedicated his work ‘‘ The Names of Herbes,” to the 
Duke, and dated it from Sion—refers to them as then growing there 
plenteously. And Gerarde, in his “‘ Herball,” published in 1597, 
remarks of the cypress, that there “ are trees of it at Sion, a place 
neare London.” But of still greater historical interest are the 
Sion mulberry trees; for they include what is reputed to be the 
oldest mulberry tree in England, said to have been introduced from 
Persia in 1548. However this may be, and‘however greatly old 
gardens such as those of Sion may have changed in the course of 
their history, little or no change has taken place in the manner of 
growth of their trees. We may be pretty sure that Tudor elms 
and beeches, and Tudor cypresses and oaks, looked to our ancestors 
much as their descendants do to us. Ancient or otherwise, they 
bore the normal aspect of their descendants of like age to-day, and 
in all probability they were planted, or have planted themselves, 
very near the spot in which their ancestors flourished ; for does not 
the baby acorn always lie close to the mother oak ? 
The great attraction of Sion, however, apart from its historical 
associations and the romantic history of its owners, is not the trees, 
magnificent as they are, nor the beautiful gardens and unsurpassed 
conservatories : these are rivalled elsewhere. It is its situation on 
the bank of the Thames, the stream which, while it irrigates the 
park and grounds by means of its tributaries—feeding on the way a 
beautiful miniature lake—must always, even in monastic days, 
when the surrounding land was nearly open country, have given 
to it peculiar distinction and charm. It certainly does so now. 
From no point does the stately house look so well as from the river ; 
and standing on the towing-path by the river-gate of the Royal 
Gardens of Kew, one gets an excellent view of the east front of the 
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