TREES AND THE PICTURESQUE. 6 



medicines are afforded by innumerable species, and 

 " wood" and "tree" are words almost synonymous. 

 It would be foolish and presumptuous to say that 

 man could not exist without trees, since, were 

 there no such productions in existence, the Infinite 

 Benevolence would supply his wants through some 

 other medium. But constituted as man is, and 

 established as trees and their functions and pro- 

 perties are, it is plain that the present order and 

 harmony of things in respect to man's welfare, are 

 inseparably identified with trees. Thus, that when 

 we consider man and his privileges, the amenities and 

 the enjoyments that embosom life, the comforts and 

 the ornaments of his home, we cannot possibly do 

 so, if we would give all things their fair place, with- 

 out keeping trees also constantly before the mind. 



Trees are indispensable to the picturesque. A 

 mountain, or an extended plain, may have grandeur, 

 though devoid of trees ; and it is easy to conceive 

 of richly cultivated valleys covered with crops of 

 corn, or unrolling infinite reaches of green pasture, 

 and at the same time without a tree, except a little 

 one here and there, just sufficient to serve as a land- 

 mark. But in the absence of trees, none of these 

 places could be picturesque, in the full and proper 

 sense of the word. The trees break the outlines ; 

 they give variety of colours, movement also, and 

 shadows, and touch the imagination with an agree- 

 able sense of fruitfulness ; or if they be timber and 



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