no ME PLANTS AND THEIR WA 78. g 



strumcnt. How many a happy assemblage of children and 

 young persons has been, during the past century, repeated- 

 ly gathered under its shade in the sultry noons of summer ! 

 How many a young May-Queen has been crowned under its 

 roof, when the greensward was just daisied with the early 

 flowers of spring ! And how many a weary traveler has 

 rested from his journey in its benevolent shade, and, from 

 a state of weariness and vexation, when o'erspent by heat 

 and length of way, has subsided into one of quiet thank- 

 fulness and content ! 



3. Though the elm has never been consecrated by the 

 Muse, or dignified by making a figure in the paintings of 

 the old masters, the native inhabitant of New England 

 associates its varied forms with all that is delightful in 

 the scenery of his own land, or memorable in its history. 

 He has beheld many a noble avenue formed of elms, when 

 standing in rows in the village, or by the rustic road-side. 

 He has seen them extending their broad and benevolent 

 arms as a protection over many a spacious old farm-house 

 and many an humble cottage, and equally harmonizing 

 with all. They meet his sight in the public grounds of 

 the city, with their ample shade and flowing spray, invit- 

 ing him to linger under their pleasant umbrage in sum' 

 mer ; and in winter he has beheld them among the rude 

 hills and mountains, like spectral figures keeping sentry 

 among their passes, and, on the waking of the year, sud- 

 denly transformed into towers of luxuriant verdure and 

 beauty. Every year of his life has he seen the beautiful 

 hang-bird weave his pensile habitation upon the long and 

 flexible branches of the elm, secure from the reach of 

 every living creature. Prom its vast dome of interwoven 

 branches and foliage he has listened to the songs of the 

 earliest and latest birds ; and under its shelter he has 

 witnessed many a merry-making assemblage of children, 

 employed in the sportive games of summer. 



