. . . . I liked her simple, easy, gentle, quiet
manners, and I liked her husband too.
He has a wide and quick sympathy, and expresses it freely. . . . . The
world is the better for him.
The shower being now over, we went out upon the beautiful lawn before his
house, where there were a good many trees of various kinds, many of which
have been set out by persons of great or small distinction, and are
labelled with their names. Thomas Moore's name was appended to one;
Maria Edgeworth's to another; likewise Fredrika Bremer's, Jenny Lind's;
also Grace Greenwood's, and I know not whose besides. This is really a
pleasant method of enriching one's grounds with memorials of friends, nor
is there any harm in making a shrubbery of celebrities. Three holes were
already dug, and three new trees lay ready to be planted, and for me
there was a sumach to plant,--a tree I never liked; but Mr. Hall said
that they had tried to dig up a hawthorn, but found it clung too fast to
the soil. So, since better might not be, and telling Mr. Hall that I
supposed I should have a right to hang myself on this tree whenever I
chose, I seized a spade, and speedily shovelled in a great deal of dirt;
and there stands my sumach, an object of interest to posterity! Bennoch
also and Dr. ------ set out their trees, and indeed, it was in some sense
a joint affair, for the rest of the party held up each tree, while its
godfather shovelled in the earth; but, after all, the gardener had more
to do with it than we.
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