duced by each ! Who can view with similar sensations the 
birch and the hawthorn, the yew and the cypress? Do 
not the former awaken feelings of cheerfulness, the other 
of gloom ? 
The cypress is a dark, pyramidal evergreen, growing 
to a considerable size in a soil and climate favourable to 
its development. Its proper birthplace is the Levant, 
particularly the island of Candia, where it grew in such 
profusion, that the Romans, and after them the Vene¬ 
tians, obtained a considerable revenue from its timber. 
Though our easterly winds are very prejudicial to it, the 
cypress does not fear cold in the land of its nativity, for 
it is seen climbing the snowy top of Mount Ida. From 
Candia it was brought first to Italy, where “ it was con¬ 
sidered a mere stranger in Pliny’s time.” It is now, 
however, so completely naturalised there, and forms so 
prominent and acknowledged a feature in the sylva of 
that classic country, that, as a writer of fine taste ob¬ 
serves, “ no Italian scene is perfect without it.” 
Bearing in mind the associations connected with this 
tree, what touching effect, what mournful grace, does it 
throw over the architectural remains of ancient Rome ! 
- “ come and see 
The cypress, hear the owl, and plod your way 
O’er steps of broken thrones and temples.” 
