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

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," exclaimed 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 rforalti' 00
county of Calaveras, in the state of L/a.l „g is,,
200 miles from San Francisco. The s,ra- :Witco
4550 feet above the level of that city, °lila, the
above Murphy's, whence it is distant 15 lel `'''
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 , root
(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 `rci, ,010
fairly 20 feet from the ground ; it measere,ool4,
was cut down, 300 feet in length. The 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 Motee9',o
On the upper trail the first tree ce. ille'e?
" Miner's Cabin ;" it is about 80 feet in eircill'oQ
and 200 feet high. It tapers up regulg,ri,'se'ol/P1
feet from the extreme base to the top Of ",;e-oiii
hollow, called the " Miner's Cabin." It /Or grooll,
about 17 feet.
,i, tlf#V:
The " Three Sisters" are a .group ell'A)sfee'fbe'
from the same roots.' They are about 3u'ee.. the
and together measure 92 feet in circurnferey Pre/fiqtre r
are perfect trees, and the most beautiful the
- .
frreo
isv.ee ~ . It is 200 feet to the first limb 0 e til`
Pioneer's Cabin" is 150 feet hie!:01111e0
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 reou'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 itself, - 01
high, and 75 in circumference. An feetifi
" Hercules," or " Empire State," is 31,estr'1,etr
and 107 feet in circumference. It is the 13,1.500;,' Or
ing, tree in the grove, and would make 7:2'f'rees," ,
, beingH It,"Husband
s bl iakned burnedmanana yono of
Wife"thehe s
ai odrteeh
about
brfotluahtre,3lo;,,lfee• 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;i1;1„; ,e.:4
is 300 feet, when it is broken off by Itnereilli' .
another large tree ; it is 40 feet in ciree'',A t° low
is hollow the entire length, and large el „..1°01; it;,e4,l
a person to ride into it on horseback. .'"fer; VI
it contains a never-failing spring of, w3,;c101,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 secof ageo're :II
tree in the grove. The 24 " Children"lbeY 1. ril
large enough to speak for themselves. iotilie ir
average height, some standing near the
are ali
the majority are near the father. They 5r
t ili?
real family group.
The "Mother and Son" are together 93 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
00
height of 40 feet ; they are 300 feet high• videl4 il
dian" stands by their side, is 80 feet in eireti , ~
v... 4)
and 325 feet high. r gri itir.
The " Old Maid" stands single in Ile - eil
head, unlike any other tree in the grovr
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, with 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-roon3
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 floor the gu't'
In this upland region the air is veils ,
water most pure and cold, and, after .1-1
the excessive heat at Murphy's, and lowei

ie'' N i s
her gr iltir't Itl,let
e, 126eil feel) 144 t,
is 00, ' i!oitt;
-v'' at' 1M t't or
'first 4)`` blfeeti. 1+i,14 4°
pa,
.1y 3u- cigo lv '4r
er" 11A/1 00't Nt c'ila
if,ici. .iti, arh
,sylvol'i''," I ,Ikti'r
-.Goa 1 4.,§ I,el
r 0 .1, ct,
care,' v ; t.‘11444
Inucli re I kcie 111
lakiag tf,, ail t
tile r,iis ,kte licli
Ld °°-61 , ' Aol
cagedotr 104 .0. I.
ts often ,1 A tl:(41:‘,
fine, atl ft,: 1:0: ti
ufferiogioc, !ce,
clown 0 104.:
7