262 



THE WILLOW. 



wish it not to screen the broken buttresses and 

 gothic windows of an abbey, nor to overshadow the 

 battlements of a ruined castle ; these offices it 

 resigns to the Oak, whose dignity can support 

 them. The Weeping Willow seeks a humble 

 scene — some romantic footpath bridge, which it 

 half conceals, or some glassy pool^ over which it 

 hangs its streaming foliage, 



and dips 



Its pendent boughs, stooping as if to drink. 



In these situations it appears in character, and of 

 course to advantage. Nowhere is it more beauti- 

 ful, than on the banks of the Thames, where are 

 some of the finest specimens in England. 



The date of the introduction of this tree into 

 England is unknown, but it is certainly not 

 earlier than the beginning of the last century 

 or the close of the seventeenth, when the first 

 tree was planted at Twickenham, either by Mr. 

 Vernon, a merchant of Aleppo, or by Pope. This 

 was a favourite tree with the poet, and after his 

 death became the object of so much curiosity 

 that the possessor of his villa cut it down, to avoid 

 being annoyed by persons who came to see it. 

 Another account states that it was first planted 

 at Kew, in 1693. 



Few trees have obtained greater celebrity from 

 their locality, than that known as Napoleon's 

 Willow. Loudon informs us that this tree was 

 introduced into St. Helena from Britain, by Gene- 

 ral Beatson in 1810. It was planted among other 

 trees, on the side of a valley near a spring ; and 

 having attracted the notice of Napoleon, he had a 

 seat placed under it, and used to go and sit there 



