376 



this conviction, Mr. AVithers nndertook to draw up a second pamphlet 

 more extensive than the first, chiefly as it appears, with the view of Im- 

 proving THE Management of the Royal Forests, and Raising su- 

 perior Timber for the Navv. 



The object, it will on all hands be admitted, was highly laudable, and, 

 could Mr. Withers have accomplished it, was sufficient to have placed 

 him at the head of the arboriculturists of the present day. Of the 

 method in which he has attempted this (with the best intentions, as I 

 truly believe), there is room only for a very rapid and cursory examina- 

 tion in this place; and as I have been indirectly called upon for an 

 opinion upon his method by his majesty's government, I shall give it 

 candidly, and in the most concise manner I am able. 



It is well known to those, who possess the best judgment, and the 

 best opportunities of judging, that there are few departments under 

 government, which are managed with more diligence and ability than 

 that of the " Woods and Forests." The noble lord and First Com- 

 missioner, now at the head of that department, are both unremitting in 

 their endeavours to put the affairs of the royal forests on the best foot- 

 ing, and under the superintendence of men of the greatest skill and ex- 

 perience ; and the late improvements made, as I understand, are such 

 as entitle them to the highest praise. On comparing these forests with 

 the best-managed woods and plantations belonging to private individuals, 

 it will be found, that the defects in either are far more to be attributed 

 to the general neglect of the art of planting in Britain, and to the want 

 of that useful assistance which might be afforded to it (as I have already 

 observed) by agricultural chemistry, as well as phytological science, 

 than to any other cause. Whether Mr. Withers's pathetic lamenta- 

 tions of the defective management of the royal forests, and "the shame 

 and indignation," which he virtuously feels on that account (p. 27.) 

 proceed from an ignorance of these well-known facts, and an unac- 

 quaintance with the manner in which those forests ought to be managed ; 

 or whether they are put forth ad captandum, and for the purpose of 

 catching that " gale of popularity," which every one in a free country 

 is sure to obtain, who makes an attack upon the government, I shall not 

 take it upon me to determine ; but from the apparent sincerity and frank- 

 ness of his whole manner and character, I should far rather attribute 

 them to the former motives. 



Not long before the appearance of his second pamphlet, that is, in 

 the end of last year, it so happened, that the greatest writer of the age, 

 Sir Walter Scott (who, to his other multifarious accomplishments, adds 

 considerable experience in the management of woods), drew up an 



