124 The Art of Landscape Gardening 



condemn for its decay ; he will rejoice when he finds two 

 trees whose stems have long grown so near each other 

 that their branches are become interwoven ; he will ex- 

 amine the outline formed by the combined foliage of 

 many trees thus collected in groups, and removing others 

 near them, he will give ample space for their picturesque 

 effect. Sometimes he will discover an aged thorn or maple 

 at the foot of a venerable oak; these he will respect, not 

 only for their antiquity, being perhaps coeval with the 

 father of the forest, but knowing that the importance of 

 the oak is comparatively increased by the neighbouring 

 situation of these subordinate objects ; this will some- 

 times happen when young trees grow near old ones, 

 as when a light airy ash appears to rise from the same 

 root with an oak or an elm. These are all circumstances 

 dependent on the sportive accidents of nature; but even 

 where art has interfered, where the long and formal line 

 of a majestic avenue shall be submitted to his decision, 

 the man of taste will pause, and not always break their 

 venerable ranks, for his hand is not guided by the lev- 

 elling principles or sudden innovations of modern fash- 

 ion ; he will reverence the glory of former ages, while 

 he cherishes and admires the ornament of the present, 

 nor will he neglect to foster and protect the tender sap- 

 ling, which promises, with improving beauty, to spread 

 a grateful shade for future " tenants of the soil." 



Togive,however, such general rules for thinning woods 

 as might be understood by those who have never atten- 

 tively and scientifically considered the subject would be 

 like attempting to direct a man who had never used a pen- 

 cil, to imitate the groups of a Claude or a Poussin.^^ 



On this head I have frequently found my instructions 

 opposed and my reasons unintelligible to those who look 

 at a wood as an object of gain ; and for this reason I am 



