14 EXCURSIONS ROUND LONDON. 



of the latter are woody, bard, and compact. 

 If the more lowly plants and vegetables had, 

 like trees, been furnished with woody trunks, 

 we could never have enjoyed the pleasure 

 of treading the verdant turf, or straying, as 

 we do at present, over the delightful mea- 

 dows. If, on the other hainl, the trunks of 

 trees did not rise to a considerable height 



CJ 



before they shot forth their branches, man 

 could never have enjoyed the cool and sha-, 

 dy retreats of woods and forests. His steps 

 would have been perpetually arrested : the 

 woods, and even our orchards, would have 

 presented insuperable barriers to his ram- 

 bles ; whereas, according to the present 

 state of things, he can range uncontroled 

 through the most extensive forests, which, 

 to him, are like so many verdant temples, 

 where he may offer up his grateful thanks to 

 the giver of all good. 



If we carry our views still further if we 

 elevate them to those luminous bodies, which 

 are scattered with such profusion through 



the 



