274 OCTOBER. 



that with more than magical effect burst 

 forth from naked and rigid twigs, with all 

 the rich and brilliant, and unimaginably varied 

 colours under heaven ; breathing delectable 

 odours, pure, and fresh, and animating ; pour- 

 ing out spices and medicinal essences ; and 

 making music, from the softest and the most 

 melancholy undertones to the full organ-peal 

 of the tempest. I wonder not that trees have 

 commanded the admiration of men in all nations 

 and periods of the world. What is the richest 

 country without trees? What barren and mo- 

 notonous spot can they not convert into a para- 

 dise ? Xerxes, in the midst of his most ambi- 

 tious enterprise, stopped his vast army to con- 

 template the beauty of a tree. Cicero, from the 

 throng, and exertion, and anxiety of the Forum, 

 was accustomed, Pliny tells us, to steal forth to 

 a grove of palm-trees, to refresh and invigorate 

 his spirit. In the Scaplan Groves, the same 

 author adds, Thucydides was supposed to have 

 composed his noble histories. The Greek and 

 Roman classics, indeed, abound with expres- 

 sions of admiration of trees and woods, and 

 with customs which have originated in that ad- 

 miration ; but above all, as the Bible surpasses, 

 in the splendour and majesty of its poetry, all 

 books in the world, so is its sylvan and arborescent 

 imagery the most bold and beautiful. Beneath 



