And the waters disappear." •

In this smiling retreat Mr. Hamilton delighted to gather together a variety of rare trees and plants, and did much by his enthusiasm, to cultivate a love for such pursuits, when they were less common than at the present day. His hot-houses were extensive, and filled with the floral riches of the tropics, rarely seen in this country half a century ago. An anecdote is related of the fate that befel one of the first Camellia flowers that bloomed in this country in his green-house; Mr. Hamilton was social in his habits, and accustomed to give large entertainments; on one one of these occasions, the first flower had expanded, him in great glee, said, "see what a lovely flower I have plucked." Mr. Hamilton exclaimed with an oath, "Madam, I had rather have given you one hundred guineas than that you should have picked that precious blossom." [A rather ungallant speech, for doubtless the lady was herself, the fairer flower. Ed.] The grounds were planted with taste*, the grouping and variety of trees produce a picturesque effect; yet the place has suffered severely from changing owners, and is now far inferior in beauty to what it was during Hamilton's life time.

He bequeathed it to his nephew, James Hamilton, by whom it was finally sold to a gentleman of Philadelphia, who occupied the house for a time, and felled many of the finest trees for fuel. Quite recently, one of the most stately specimens of the black oak (Quercus tinctoria) existing in this neighborhood, was laid low. This regal tree was four feet in diameter. A walk leading from the mansion in a northerly direction, and of which there is still some remains, was termed the "English walk," on account of its sinuous course; it is skirted with the yellow Broom (Cvtisus scoparius,) which grows here luxuriantly. He probably first brought the plant to this country, and it seems to have been a favorite with him, as it existed on his other estates of Bush Hill and Lemon Hill. Hamilton introduced the Platanus orientalis, of which there is a fine specimen still flourishing at the Woodlands, probably the first in the country; it was under the eastern plane that Xerxes halted his army of seventeen hundred thousand men, according to Evelyn, "to admire its pulchritude and procerity, and became so fond of it, that spoiling both himself, his wives and great persons of all their jewels, he covered it with gold gems, necklaces, scarfs, bracelets and infinite riches, * * * and when he was forced to part with it, he caused the figure of it to be stamped on a medal of gold, which he continually wore about him."

Hamilton also introduced (besides the Wych Elm from Britain, and the Tartarian Maple, indigenous to Russia,) the Lombardy Poplar, for a while such a universal favorite, but which is now rarely considered an ornamental tree. The cause of this deterioration may be explained by the fact that the poplar is dioecious, and only the staminate tree was brought to this country; consequently, it has been propagated by suckers or cuttings, which root easily and grow rapidly, so that the tree is now in its dotage; it would be well for some one to import either seed or a pistillate tree, and thus raise a new stock. Long rows of this stiff tree have justly given to the lovers of the picturesque, a distaste to it, but the landscape-gardener ought not wholly to neglect it on that account, any more than the landscape-painter would refuse to use a certain color because another artist employed that color too profusely; a few Lombardy poplars planted judiciously produce a fine effect - their tall symmetrical forms rising above their neighbors, catch the eye and break the monotony of a view.

The stately heads of the poplars were laid low in New-England many years ago, on account of the stories circulated that a frightful insect had been found to infest them; this creature seemed to partake somewhat of the fabulous character of the dragon, but whether real or imaginary it caused the destruction of this tree, which had become so fashionable after the French revolution,* that it was planted in front of nearly every house, to the exclusion of all others.

The Gingko tree (Salisburia adantifolia,) a native of China, a number of which are flourishing there finely - brought to my mind, as its strange leaves flashed in the sun-light, Dr. Bigelow's address to this curious tree:

Thou queer, outlandish, fun-leaved tree, "Whose grandfather came o'er the sea, A pilgrim of the ocean * The poplar was adopted by the French as the liberty tree.

Didst thou expect to gather gear By selling out thy chopsticks here? What a mistaken notion.

These are said to be the largest, if not the oldest in the country; however, I do not think they exceed in age the one on Boston Common, which was removed to its pre-sent site about fourteen years ago, when the Greene estate was levelled to build Pember-ton Square; it was thought at the time a great risk to remove so large and delicate a tree, but it must be either moved or cut down, modern improvement said, and the event has proved that the attempt was judiciously made, for though it languished for several years, and has probably increased but little in size since its transplantation, it is now growing, its roots and branches somewhat cut away, in order to convey it through the narrow streets, so that it will never vie in beauty of form with its brethren of the Woodlands. Hamilton did not import and nurse up foreign trees to the exclusion of those of native growth, but gathered together at the Woodlands, the most beautiful from the northern and southern states: there are two noble specimens of the Fagus faruginea now growing there, probably the only ones in that section of country. The Magnolia cordata was also, through his means, brought from the south. It was as gardener on this estate, that Pursh, the author of Flora America Septentrionalis, began his career in this country.

His predecessor was John Lyon, also a collector of American plants, for whom a genus of the Andromedeaa was named - Lyonia. The green-house formerly under their care, is still stocked with plants; a part of it is used as a rosarium, where are blooming in great luxuriance, a variety of the queen of flowers, which are cultivated to plant out upon the graves; for the Woodlands was laid out a few years ago as a cemetery. I could not but lament that so fine a house, in such a lovely situation, was not still occupied by a gentleman of taste and fortune; the reason given for the desertion of the place, was the prevalence of the fever and ague, which is now said to have almost disappeared.

To this lovely spot, once the resort only of the gay and fashionable, the rich and the learned, the dwellers of the crowded city now come out to bury their dead And nature's pleasant robe of green, Humanity's appointed shroud, enwraps Their monuments and their memory.

Yours. B.

Cambridge, Mass., 1S51