558 Strutt^s Sylva Britannica, 



of the parish. The learned and excellent Andrews, Bishop 

 of Winchester, left a fine model of prayer for these occasions ; 

 and it must have been a soothing sight to witness the devo- 

 tional feelings of the multitude, thus called forth in the sim- 

 plicity of patriarchal worship in the open air, and surrounded 

 by the works of God." 



The Gospel oak near Stoneleigh, to which we are now 

 more particularly alluding, " stands," Mr. Strutt informs us, , 

 " in a little retired coppice, the solitude of which is equally 

 favourable to thought and to devotion, to the reveries of the 

 philosopher on ages past, and the contemplation of the Chris- 

 tian on the ages to come." We will only add, from our per- 

 sonal knowledge of the spot, that it is much to be regretted 

 that some of the upstart saplings, the impertinent firs and 

 larches of modern growth *, which surround this primitive 

 tree, and interfere sadly with its branches, have not long 

 since been cleared away by the proprietor, in order to give 

 space and a freer circulation of air to the original and rightful 

 occupant of the grove. 



Having already quoted so largely from our author's pages, 

 and from others of kindred character, we fear that we have more 

 than exceeded our limits, as well as trespassed on the patience 

 of our readers. We cannot, however, resist the temptation to 

 make one more extract, were it only for the sake of the beauti- 

 ful and appropriate poetic effusion which it will be the means 

 of introducing to more general notice. Mr. Strutt is speaking 

 of an aged oak in the park at Moccas Court, on the banks of 

 the Wye, in Herefordshire. " The whole estate," he says, 

 " from the very nature of its situation, forming part of the 

 borders between England and Wales, is fraught with historical 

 associations, which extend themselves, with pleasing interest, 

 to this * ancient monarch of the wood ;' among whose boughs 

 the war-cry has often reverberated in former ages, and who 

 has witnessed many a fierce contention under our Henries and 

 our Edwards, hand to hand and foot to foot, for the domains 

 on which he still survives, in venerable though decaying ma- 

 jesty, surrounded by aged denizens of the forest ; the oldest of 

 whom, nevertheless, compared with himself, seem but as of 

 yesterday. The stillness of the scene at the present time 

 forms a soothing contrast to the recollections of the turbulent 

 past; and the following lines are so in harmony with the 

 reflections it is calculated to awaken, that it is hoped the 

 transplanting of them from the pages of a brother amateur of 



* These have been very properly omitted in Mr. Strutt's view, as well 

 as in the wood-cut now presented to our readers. 



