LUXURY. 
185 
Howard, &c. It luxuriates at the Tuileries, 
where it rises around the great lake in masses 
of incomparable beauty. At the Luxembourg 
it spreads its branches in accordant pomp and 
splendour: 
There avenues of chesnuts high 
With vaulted roofs conceal the sky. 
In the beginning of spring, one rainy day 
is sufficient to cause this beautiful tree to co¬ 
ver itself with verdure. If it be planted alone, 
nothing surpasses the elegance of its pyra¬ 
midal form, the beauty of its foliage, or the 
richness of its flowers, which sometimes make 
it appear as an immense lustre or chandelier, 
all covered with pearls. Fond of ostentation 
and richness, it covers with flowers the grass 
which it o’ershadows, and yields to the idler a 
most delightful shade. To the poor man it 
is of little service, supplying him with nothing 
more than a light and porous timber, and a 
bitter fruit. Naturalists and physicians have 
attributed to this child of Asia a thousand 
good qualities which it does not possess. 
