INTRODUCTION 



sity, and has risen superior to opposing forces 

 of every description. We therefore honor 

 its excellence and cherish its memory with 

 that of our heroes! 



American literature abounds with refer- 

 ence to great and beautiful trees, and the 

 same may be said with equal truth of the 

 works of the English writers. Our kinsmen 

 across the sea have always taken an honest 

 pride in their ancient oaks, with which the 

 island abounds. They tell us, for example, 

 of the great oak of Ravenshead, last survivor 

 of old Sherwood Forest, where Robin Hood 

 and his fearless band carried on their ex- 

 ploits; of the Parliament Oak, so called 

 in memory of an assemblage of the kind 

 held by King John beneath its shade; of the 

 Pilgrim Oak, associated with Lord Byron, 

 and with his father before him. FalstafFs 

 Tree in Queen Elizabeth's walk at Windsor 

 Forest, and Shakespeare's Tree, from which 

 the carved box was made that enclosed the 

 papers conveying the freedom of Stratford- 

 on-Avon to David Garrick, are also men- 

 tioned among the famous trees of England. 



