THE ELM. 



69 



discussing the merits of statues in his collection. I 

 found that he had even gone considerable distances 

 to examine trees which were celebrated among rural 

 amateurs ; for it seems that trees, like horses, have 

 their established points of excellence ; and that 

 there are some in England which enjoy very exten- 

 sive celebrity among tree-fanciers, from being per- 

 fect in their kind. There is something nobly simple 

 and pure in such a taste : it argues, I think, a sweet 

 and generous nature to have this strong relish for the 

 beauties of vegetation, and this friendship for the 

 hardy and glorious sons of the forest. There is a 

 grandeur of thought connected with this part of 

 rural economy. It is, if I may be allowed the 

 figure, the heroic line of husbandry. It is worthy 

 of liberal, and free-born and aspiring men. He who 

 plants an oak looks forward to future ages, and plants 

 for posterity. Nothing can be less selfish than this. 

 He cannot expect to sit in its shade, nor enjoy its 

 shelter ; but he exults in the idea, that the acorn 

 which he has buried in the earth shall grow up into 

 a lofty pile, and shall keep on flourishing and in- 

 creasing, and benefiting mankind, long after he 

 shall have ceased to tread his paternal fields. In- 

 deed it is the nature of such occupations to lift the 

 thoughts above mere worldliness. As the leaves of 

 trees are said to absorb all noxious qualities of the 

 air, and to breathe forth a purer atmosphere, so it 

 seems to me as if they drew from us all sordid and 



