Vlll PREFACE. 



and put forth a parable concerning the trees, who sought 

 for a king to rule over them. 



Sanctioned, therefore, by the usages of antiquity, and, 

 above all, encouraged by the example above cited, I have 

 ventured to assign both speech and memory, with the love 

 of poetry and nature, to many an aged tree or sapling, 

 fern or way-side moss ; trusting that some who read, will 

 go forth into the woods, and learn to gladden their solitary 

 walks with associations of engrossing interest. 



