EXPULSION OF THE BOOKS 79 



far known to me, including the turbid, rushing 

 Thames, spanned by its vast stone bridges, the 

 cathedral with its sombre cloud-like dome, and 

 the endless hurrying procession of Cheapside, 

 this impressed me the most. The existence of 

 so noble a transcript of wild nature as this tall 

 wood with its noisy black people, ^o near the 

 heart of the metropolis, surrounded on all sides 

 by miles of brick and mortar and innumerable 

 smoking chimneys, filled me with astonishment ; 

 and I may say that I have seldom looked on a 

 scene that stamped itself on my memory in more 

 vivid and lasting colours. Eecalling the sensa- 

 tions of delight I experienced then, I can now 

 feel nothing but horror at the thought of the 

 unspeakable barbarity the park authorities were 

 guilty of in destroying this nol^le grove. Why 

 was it destroyed ? It was surely worth more to 

 us than many of our possessions — -many painted 

 canvases, statues, and monuments, which have 

 cost millions of the public money I Of brick 

 and stone buildings, plain and ornamental, we 

 have enough to afford shelter to our bodies, and 

 for all other purposes, but trees of one or two 

 centuries' growth, the great trees that give 

 shelter and refreshment to the soul, are not 



