204 



THE ORIENTAL PLANE. 



Herodotus informs us, that when Xerxes was 

 about to invade Europe with his mighty army, 

 and had arrived at Lydia in Asia Minor, he 

 fell in with a Plane-tree, which on account of 

 its excessive beauty, he decorated with golden 

 ornaments, and left behind him a warrior selected 

 from the Immortal Band to take care of it. 



jElian and other authors tell us, " says 

 Evelyn, ^^he made halt, and stopped his prodigious 

 army of 170,000 soldiers, which even covered the 

 sea, exhausted rivers, and thrust Mount Athos 

 from the continent, to admire the pulchritude 

 and procerity of one of them ; and became so 

 fond of it, that spoiling both himself and his 

 great persons of all their jewels, he covered it 

 with gold, gems, necklaces, scarfs and bracelets, 

 and infinite riches. In sum, he was so ena- 

 moured of it, that for some days neither the 

 concernment of his grand expedition, nor interest 

 of honour, nor the necessary motion of his por- 

 tentous army, could persuade him from it. He 

 styled it his mistress, his minion, his goddess ; 

 and when he was forced to part from it, he 

 caused the figure of it to be stamped on a 

 medal of gold, w^hich he continually w^ore about 

 him. Wherever they built their sumptuous and 

 magnificent colleges for the exercise of the youth 

 in gymnastics, and w^here the graver philosophers 

 also met to converse together and improve their 

 studies, they planted walks of Platans, to refresh 

 and shade them. The great Roman orators and 

 statesmen Cicero and Hortensius, would ex- 

 change now and then a turn at the bar, that 

 they might have the pleasure to step to their 

 villas and refresh their Platans, which they 



