388 Strutfs Delicia: Sylvdrum, 



We beg pardon of our readers for having detained them 

 so long in the forest, and with (we fear) such dry and unpa- 

 latable fare. We thought it not unimportant, however, to 

 expose the fallacy of an opinion, which seems to be wide 

 spread and deep rooted. People talk of the Forest of Arden, 

 and, caught by the sound of the words, without the least 

 enquiry, take up with the belief, that in the olden time the 

 lands had a legitimate right to that character which the name 

 implies. Ourwj uTCtkai'UTMpo^ rolg iroKKoig y; ^^TYi<n5 T^g otXri^slug, 

 xai Itti to. eTOiixu [jt^SiWov TpsTrovrai.* 



Quitting at length the intricacies of Arden, we now hasten 

 to a conclusion, observing, as we pass, that each subject of 

 the Delicice Sylvdrum is accompanied by a small portion of 

 descriptive letter-press, interspersed and enlivened with appro- 

 priate quotations, both poetical and prose. The account, by 

 John Taylor the water-poet, of the extensive and magnificent 

 huntings, which formerly took place in the Forest of Brae-mar, 

 is highly curious and interesting. Did our limits permit, we 

 would gladly extract the passage ; but, having already tres- 

 passed on the patience of our readers, we refer them to Mr. 

 Strutfs own pages, and shall content ourselves with observing 

 generally, that the descriptive part of the work before us, 

 brief as it is, is in unison with the pictorial, and just what 

 might be expected from a man of Mr. Strutt*s known taste 

 and acquirements. In one instance, however, our author com- 

 mits a strange blunder : at the end of his introduction he 

 employs the word " accorded'*^ instead of what, we feel assured, 

 he meant to have written, " awarded : " a mere lapsus this, 

 inadvertently made in an unguarded moment, which we notice 

 chiefly with a view to convince our readers, that, however lavish 

 we may appear to have been in our praises of Mr. Strutt and 

 his performances (and we certainly do think very highly of 

 them), we are ready at the same time fairly and fearlessly to 

 point out any the most minute blemishes we can detect in the 

 execution of his work. We now take our leave of Mr. Strutt, 

 heartily wishing that he may meet with that liberal support 

 and encouragement from the public, which in our conscience 

 we think he so well deserves. To every lover of forest 

 scenery, to every admirer of pure and spirited etchings, we 

 confidently recommend the DelicicE Sylvdrum^ venturing to 

 predict that the work will be handed down to posterity, and 

 remain xT>ijw,a Ij us\ \ long after the charming scenes it por- 

 trays shall have mouldered into decay. 



* " So impatient of labour are the most men in search of truth, and em- 

 brace soonest the things that are next to hand." — Thuct/dideSjh. i. (Hobbes.) 

 t " For an everlasting possession." 



