There was not one that spread such delicate and graceful tresses on the breeze as our White Birch; not one that fanned it with such a gentle, musical flutter of silver-lined leaves; not one that wore a bodice of such virgin white from head to foot, or that showed such long, tapering fingers against the sky.

I was glad to see such justice done to a tree in the noblest parks in England, which with us has been treated with such disdain and contumely.

When I saw it here in such glory and honor, and thought how, notwithstanding its Caucasian complexion, it is regarded as a nuisance in our woods, meadows and pastures, so that any man who owns, or can borrow an axe, may cut it down without leave or license wherever he finds it--when I saw this disparity in its status in the two Englands, I resolved to plead its cause in my own with new zeal and fidelity..