PREFACE. 



IT was originally my intention to have published my 

 Tree in eight parts, and to have brought them out in suc- 

 cession, as rapidly as possible ; but I have decided, for the 

 present, to stop at Part IV. A much larger subscription 

 than I have yet obtained is necessary to enable me to carry 

 out my original project. Trees will not grow without sap 

 or sunlight, and if mine is, at present, only a mere shrub, 

 and has not advanced to the condition of a California 

 Sequoia, it is because I require more time and means. 



Do not suppose, reader, that I am at all discouraged, or 

 that I have the slightest intention to give up the work ; 

 but the present delay is absolutely requisite in order that 

 I may be able to meet the expenses which I have incurred 

 in its publication. An author who appears before the 

 world in the character of a moralist, and a lover of Nature, 

 must endeavor to live a pure and blameless life, and be 

 upright and honorable in all business transactions. 



No work which the press has received from my pen has 

 been so much encouraged as the present one, and to my 

 numerous kind friends and patrons I return my sincere 

 thanks. It has been very welcome in many families, and 

 I trust that it contains some good remarks which will do 

 good. And here I must introduce a paragraph, printed on 

 the cover of Part I : 



" The question is simply this : ' Will this book do me 

 any good ?' ' Is it worth its price ?' Gentlemen are respect- 

 fully requested to read and judge for themselves. As the 

 author of the book, I wish it to stand entirely on its own 

 merits. I wish no man to buy my book unless he thinks 

 its perusal will do him good ?" 



The biography of a tree, or of a flower, is to my mind 

 an illustration of human life, every stage of which is 



