THE LIME TREE, 353 
875 cubical feet of timber. At Cobham Hall in Kenta tree 
stands ninety-seven feet high, and nine feet in diameter. 
One of the largest and handsomest trees of the species to be 
met with in Scotland stands on the lawn at Gordon Castle, 
with a head of nearly 100 feet in diameter. Happily situated 
in a congenial soil, it has become a lofty tree, with branches 
depending to the surface of the ground. It displays a moun- 
tain of foliage of the finest form and texture, with a trunk 
upwards of sixteen feet in circumference ; and the magnitude 
and beauty of the tree harmonize with the scenes by which it 
is surrounded, and recall to memory the passage in Landor’s 
Conversations, —“ Old trees in their living state are the only 
things that money cannot command. Rivers leave their beds, 
run into cities, and traverse mountains for it; obelisks and 
arches, palaces and temples, amphitheatres and pyramids, rise 
up like exhalations at its bidding ; even the free spirit of man, 
the only thing great on earth, crouches and cowers in its pres- 
ence. It passes away and vanishes before venerable trees. 
What a sweet odour is there! Whence comes it /—sweeter 
it appears to me, and stronger than the pine itself.” “I ima- 
gine,” said he, “from the linden.” “Yes, certainly.” “Oh; Don 
Pepino,” cried I; “the French, who abhor whatever is old, 
and whatever is great, have spared it. The Austrians, who 
sell their fortresses and their armies, nay sometimes their 
daughters, have not sold it. Must it fall? Oh, who upon 
earth could ever cut down a linden 2” 
The wood of the lime tree is very soft, of a pale yellow or 
white colour, very light, and not apt to be attacked by insects. 
It is esteemed in preference to any other kind for carving, 
and shoemakers, glovers, and saddlers prefer it to every other 
kind for cutting leather upon ; and for this purpose it is fre- 
quently retailed in planks by leather-merchants throughout 
the country. It is used at foundries in forming moulds, and 
is appreciated on account of being easily worked, and for pro- 
ducing a fine surface, and it is not subject to warp. In the 
manufacture of gunpowder its charcoal is said to be inferior 
only to that of the hazel. It is also used by architects in 
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