8o y^ Pi/fOHr/c 0/ Foreft-Tiees. 



that (without fiste diJieMper, or forcible caufe) the hairs dtire with 

 the body, ""^ are ejieem'd excrements but from their ftiperfluous 

 grorrth : So as he relolves upon good Reafon, that Fruit-trees wtU 

 ordered may live a thoufand years^ and bear Frw/t, and the longer 

 the more, the greater^and the better (for which an Injiance alio in 

 M^Beak*s Hereford-J})ire Or chards, f 4^.21,22.) becaule liis vigour 

 is prohd and itronger, when his years are many. Thus (hall you 

 lee old Trees put forth their Buds and Blofomes both fooner and 

 more plentifully then young Trees by much i And I fenftbly perceive 

 (faith he) my youngTteesto enlarge their Fruit as they grow great- 

 er ^d^c. And if Fruit-Trees continue to this Age^ how inany Ages 

 is it to be fuppofcd ftrong and huge Timber-trees will laft ? whofe 

 maffie bodies require the years of divers MethufaWs before they 

 determine their days » whofe Sap is ftrong and bitter t, whofe Bark^ 

 is hard and thick, and their fubftance folid and ftiff 5 all which 

 are defences of health and long life, ^htiv ftrength withftands all 

 forceable Winds ^ their Sap of that quality is not fubjeft to Worms 

 and tainting ; their Bark, receives feldome or never by cafualty 

 any wound ; and not only fb, but he is free from Removals ^ which 

 are the death of millions of Trees ; whereas the Fruit-tree (in 

 comparifon) is little, and frequently blown down ; his ^<aip fweet, 

 eafily and foon tainted 5 his Bark_ tender, and foon wounded 5 and 

 himfelf ufed by Man sls Man ufes himfelf , that is, either unskil- 

 fully ^ or carelejly. Thus he. 



4. I might to this add much more, and truly with fufficient 

 probability, that the Age of Timber-trees^ efpecially of fuch as 

 , be of a com pad, refnovs, or balfamicalnztnve (for of this kind are 

 the Eugh, Box, Horn-beam, White-thorn, Oak., Walnut, Cedar, Juni- 

 per, df^c") are capable of very long duration and continuance.- 

 thofe of largeft Zlo<?*x, longer liv'd then the y?»<?r?er ^ the ts^ry, then 

 the Jvet 'j and the gummy, then the veatry : For not to conclude 

 from Vliny*s Hercynian Oaks, or the Terpentine Tree of ldum£a^ 

 which Jofephus rankes alfo with the Creation : I read of a CypreS 

 yet remaining fome where in Perjia neer an old Sepulchre, whole 

 jtem is as large as fiVe men can encompafs, the bough? extend- 

 ing fifteen paces every way , This muft needs be a very old Tree, 

 believ'd by my Author little lefs then 2 500 years oi age : The par- 

 ticulars were too long to recount. The old Platanus fet by Aga- 

 memnon, and the Herculean Oaks, the Laurel neer Hippocren, the 

 Vatican Ilex, and old Lotus Trees, recorded by Valerius Maximus, 

 were famous for their age.* St Hierome affirms he faw the sycomore 

 that Zaccheus climb'd up, to fee our LORD ride in Triumph to 

 Jerufalem : And now in the Arentine Mount they (hew us the Ma- 

 lus Medica, planted by the hand of S^ Dominic : To which add 

 thofc fuperannuated 7z//rf'j- now at Bajil, and that of Aujpurg, un« 

 der whofe prodigious fiade they fo otten feafi, and celebrate their 

 Weddings ; becaufe they arc all of them noted for their reverend 

 Antiquity 5 for to fuch Trees it feems they paid Divine honours, as 

 the neareft Emblems of Eternity, & tanquam Jacros ex vetujiate, as 

 3)Hintiltan {peaks : And like to thefe might that be which is 



celebrated 



