296 OCTOBER. 



paradise 1 Xerxes, in the midst of his most ambi- 

 tious enterprise, stopped his vast army to contem- 

 plate the beauty of a tree. Cicero, from the throng, 

 and exertion, and anxiety of the Forum, was accus- 

 tomed, Pliny tells us, to steal forth to a grove of 

 palm-trees, to refresh and invigorate his spirit. In 

 the Scalpan Groves, the same author adds, Thucy- 

 dides was supposed to have composed his noble 

 histories. 



" The Greek and Roman classics, indeed, abound 

 with expressions of admiration of trees and woods, 

 and with customs which have originated in that 

 admiration ; but above all, as the Bible surpasses, 

 in the splendour and majesty of its poetry, all 

 books in the world, so is its silver and arborescent 

 imagery the most bold and beautiful. Beneath some 

 spreading tree are the ancient patriarchs revealed 

 to us sitting in contemplation, or receiving the visits 

 of angels ; and what a calm and dignified picture 

 of primeval life is presented to our imagination, at 

 the mention of Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, 

 judging the twelve tribes of Israel, between Ramah 

 and Bethel, in Mount Ephraim, beneath the palm- 

 tree of Deborah ! The oaks of Bashan, and the 

 cedars of Lebanon, are but other and better names 

 for glory and power. The vine, the olive, and the 

 fig-tree are made imperishable symbols of peace, 

 plenty, and festivity. David in his psalms, Solomon 

 in his songs and Proverbs, the prophets in the su- 

 blime outpourings of their awful inspiration, and 



