The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-20 00:00:00

180 SUPPL exclaimed, in a voice of supplication, you will bring me back the bouquet ?" But what a singular idea, that of finding a bunch of flowers amidst a floral mountain ! When the parties thus appealed to heard the request of their sovereign lady, it was indeed curious to watch the reception it met with. The tallest replied, laughing, that it would be just as easy to obtain a particular drop of water from the ocean. The stout lover turned his head aside, and muttered the words capricious, while the youngest rushed like a madman towards the stage, with the apparent intention of precipi tating himself upon it. Meanwhile, the ladies retired to their carriage, escorted by the phleg matic attendants. I quitted my box about the same time, with the intention of presenting my last respects to Mademoiselle Taglioni. " Which of At this time it was possible to obtain an entrance behind the scenes of the Opera, without being obliged to show constantly an ivory medal. It was quite sufficient guarantee when the person was well-known to the director, when he was at once admitted. My .young friend, the hero of the bouquet, was at the door, panting with his exertions, when I arrived. Mademoiselle Taglioni was still upon the stage, in the midst of a forest of bouquets, with features on which happiness and sadness were so strongly impressed at the same time, that, to see her, made one almost laugh and weep with her. She extended her little hands to us, in sign of farewell, when, suddenly, perceiving my com panion groping earnestly among the flowers, seeking the bouquet of the lady of his heart, she drew back, somewhat offended at his boldness. I, however, explained, in a low tone, to the sylph, how the matter stood, when, taking a flying leap backwards, she gazed at the young man, as she retired, with a look that might say, " Look well, and love will reward you." Soon after Mademoiselle Taglioni had left, I, who possess a certain measure of sang froid, discovered, in the midst of an enormous mass of camelias and roses, my unforgotten little bouquet of wild flowers. nd this was not to be wondered at after all, for I had been present when it was arranged, and had looked at it all the evening, and there was no other bouquet of a similar ap pearance among the rest. I cautiously placed the charming trophy in my pocket. " Sir," I inquired of the young lover, who was still seeking the treasure with a disappointed look, " have you found what you have lost ?" " Alas ! sir," he replied, " I am a mere block head ; I do not even know the bouquet I am seeking." And he turned the flowers discon solatrely over in a vain attempt to find what he had never seen, when the stage was suddenly invaded by a multitude of subordinate nymphs, who came to divide the fragrant spoils of the triumphant Mademoiselle Taglioni. It was now time to leave, and I found myself in the street with the young man. " Would you like me to come to your as sigtance to-morrow ?" I inquired. He accepted my offer eagerly, and we made an appointment to meet at my apartments. The next day my young friend was punctual to the hour. At nine o'clock in the evening he came, attired in a suit of black. " Well," he said to me, sadly, " have you any news of the bouquet ?" _ " I would advise you," I replied, "to place in your button-hole this sprig of wild thyme, de cayed and broken as it is. It has often produced me good fortune. Remember, however, I only lend it to you, and expect you will restore it to me." He gazed at me with a look so incredulous and sorrowful, that I was on the point of laughing in MENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD his face ; but he allowed himself, however, to be persuaded (those in love are always superstitious), and we proceeded together to the ball of Madame de Melcy, to whom he had engaged to introduce me. We entered the saloon : the two rivals were already there, and had brought with them the choicest exotics to be obtained in Paris—rare and costly flowers. The apartments filled slowly : the beautiful widow appeared somewhat pensive in her manner. I was presented to her by the young lover, and she returned my salutations in a languid tone, when, suddenly, she glanced at the button=hole of my companion. Her features became immediately animated, and the smile returned to her lips. " Arthur," she exclaimed earnestly, " you are very late to-night." One month - afterwards, Madame de Melcy married the hero of the sprig of wild thy - me, and on the wedding-day he wore it still in his button hole." " Arthur," I observed to him, "now that my talisman has had its effect, you must restore it to me this evening." " Return what ?" inquired Madame de Melcy. " This sprig of thyme, Madame," replied Arthur. "He lent it to me a month past, and it belongs to him. Here it is," he continued, ad dressing me, and handing the plant with a sigh. " For pity's sake," e xc l a i me d Madame de Melcy, "let him keep it." "And what will you give me for it, Madame ?" " Wait," she replied in a low tone, " you shall see ;" and she drew from her bosom the other half of the dried branch she had separated with her teeth at the opera. I returned to Madame Prevost, to whom I re lated this history. " Good," she observed ; " I did not think I should manage it so well ; and have you again seen Madame de Melcv?" "No ; she has left for her estates in Nor mandy." " Among the thyme and the roses," added Madame Prevost, smiling significantly. And the witty flower-dealer, who was the prime mover and arbiter of this little intrigue, what is become of her ? Mhe has gone whither pass the flowers. Madame Prevost is no more, and, with her, the year has lost its spring—the ball its most splendid decorations. She had created the art of making bouquets into a science ; and had composed of the smallest flower a language. She knew all the words that roses speak. She heard what the daisies said in the woods, and what the honeysuckles would re late on the ruined towers. She divined the mur mur of the violets, and the sighs of dahlias in their winter houses. She was the providence of all tender passion inspired by youth. She had delivered us from the loving elegy—the gallant dithy-rambus—the epistles to Chloris—and of all that loose, idle, and pretended poetry, which she had replaced by the flowers of the garden. She is no more, and now there is no more poesy in the rose, nor perfume in the violet; the winter flowers are merely those that are used for 'the passing hour, and are then thrown away as worthless. Who, then, now that she is dead, will create a drama with a sprig of wild thyme ? NOVEI‘MER 20, 11/* ..... . -„, r rforal ti ' 0 0 county of Calaveras, in the state of L/a. l „g is,, 200 miles from San Francisco. The s ,ra - :Wi tc o 4550 feet above the level of that city, °lila, the above Murphy's, whence it is distant 15 le l `''' passing through a forest of the finest tiniher'vaile,' The Mammoth Tree Grove contains in i,t,sl3ig.'rei . monster trees in an area of 50 acres. The , ro ot (not the largest tree in the grove, but the feet tree) is 95 feet in circumference at t,LieesP;l;l! buttress, and 18 feet in diameter, where the ` r ci, , 01 0 fairly 20 feet from the ground ; it mea sere ,ool4, was cut down, 300 feet in length. Th e t,O fii considered to be about 3000 years old. ~ Pl,t e: 25 days to fall the tree (which was done wwig".P and three weeks to strip off the bark for lO 5 ' 22 feet. The average thickness of tile I ' 3 tY i , . inches ; some of it two feet one inch. o M otee9',o On the upper trail the first tree ce. ille'e? " Miner's Cabin ;" it is about 80 feet in eirc i ll 'oQ and 200 feet high. It tapers up regulg, r i ,' s e 'o l/ P 1 feet from the extreme base to the top Of ",; e - oii i hollow, called the " Miner's Cabin." It /Or gr oo ll , about 17 feet. , i , tlf # V: The " Three Sisters" are a .group ell' A ) s fee'fb e ' from the same roots.' They are about 3u' e e.. th e and together measure 92 feet in circurnferey P re /fi qtr e r are perfect trees, and the most beautiful the - . f r r e o isv.ee ~ . It is 200 feet to the first limb 0 e til` Pioneer's Cabin" is 150 f e et hie!:0 1111e0 top t tli Th e broken off. It has a small opening' - r ,r 1 top The 1,0101 f), il Old Bachelor" is an awful forloru.'"AlePor having many rents in its bark, and the re o u 'feet of any tree in the grove. It is nearly 3k P . and about 60 feet in circumference. ; 5 ;3° l) The " Hermit" stands entirely by itsel f, - 01 high, and 75 in circumference. A n fee t i f i " Hercules," or " Empire State," is 31, e st r '1, e tr and 107 feet in circumference. It is the 13 , 1. 500;,' Or ing, tree in the grove, and would make 7: 2 ' f ' r ees , " , , beingH It,"Husband s b l iakned burned m an an a y on o of Wife" the he s ai odrteeh about brfot l u a ht r e ,3 lo ;,,lf ee • t II ig; perfect,lumber. The , 0. and each 60 feet in circumference. , the fii or, The " Family Group" consists of 26tr,e;::" fro id and mother, and 24 children. The " FatAsAtch pearance, was blown down many years a °o pled 'I 110 feet in circumference, and the sliPli;V it while standing, was 450 feet. The rellr; i 1 ; 1 „; ,e.: 4 is 300 feet, when it is broken off by Itnere il l i ' . another large tree ; it is 40 feet in ciree'',A t ° lo w is hollow the entire length, and large el „.. 1° 0 1 ; it;, e 4,l a person to ride into it on horseback. .'" fe r; VI it contains a never-failing spring of, w 3 ,; c 10 1 , e. 10,:, i half of the trunk is embedded in the eart" , 3 ,:then P ' I at its roots nearly 22 feet in diameter abe, v ', fee,',4l The " Mother" is a stately old wojnan , "' oi ,a , i cumference, and 327 feet high. It is the s ec o f ag e o ' r e :II tree in the grove. The 24 " Children"lbeY 1 . r i l large enough to speak for themselves. io til i e ir average height, some standing near the are ali the majority are near the father. Th e y 5r t i li ? real family group. The "Mother and Son" are together 9 3 fee 0 4 tlle ° the,, , cumference ; the mother is 325 feet high'o.' ,/ , ~1 The " Siamese Twins, and their Guards aeof " Twins" have one trunk, but the bodies The 0 0 height of 40 feet ; they are 300 feet high• v i del 4 il dian" stands by their side, is 80 feet in eire ti , ~ v... 4) and 325 feet high. r g ri i ti r. The " Old Maid" stands single in Ile - eil head, unlike any other tree in the grov r bare, and slightly bowing. Her height circumference 60 feet. " Adie and Mar: after two young ladies who made the fl , drive to the Fove. The trees are near : height,and 65 in circumference, and are ye : There are other trees named, as " Cabin," "The Order of California," "Pons, At the grove is an excellent inn, w ith 1 modation. Several acres have been ele' the ground is very rich, and the place is ill to, the proprietor has every chance of ill` rapidly. At the end of the dining-roo n3 i of the great tree ; it has been planed, an ing been raised to its level, forms a k, dar e feet in diameter. Upon this floo r the gu't' In this upland region the a ir is veil s , water most pure and cold , and, after .1-1 the excessive heat at Murp h y 's, and lowei ie'' N i s her gr iltir't Itl,let e, 12 6 eil feel) 144 t, is 00, ' i!oitt; -v'' at' 1M t't or 'first 4) `` bl feeti. 1 +i, 14 4 ° pa, .1y 3u - cigo lv ' 4 r er" 11A/1 00't Nt c'ila if,ici. . i t i , arh ,sylvol'i''," I ,I kti'r -.Goa 1 4.,§ I,el r 0 .1, ct, c are , ' v ; t.‘11444 In ucli re I kci e 111 lakiag tf,, ail t til e r ,iis , k te li cli Ld °° - 61 , ' Aol cagedotr 104 . 0 . I. ts often ,1 A tl:(41:‘, fine, at l ft,: 1: 0 : ti ufferiogioc, !ce, clown 0 10 4 . : 7 211-4311110TH TREE GROVE OF CALIFORNIA. A CORRESPONDENT of Bell's Weekly Messenger furnishes the following interesting particulars of this extraordinary exhibition of gigantic vegetation:— The Mammoth Tree Grove is situate towards the sources of the Stanislaus, and some other rivers, in the ~~, 4 ';ltt \vi e „ iS I !led , ./ ' (74c , ii( .111\ 1: 1 , 1 11.:'es s 111 \