280 Gilpin's forest scenery. 



open part of the wide forests of the country. 

 ' The woods resounded to the voice of the 

 preacher, or to the singing of his numerous con- 

 gregation, while their horses, fastened to the 

 trees, formed a singular addition to the scene.' * 



To this idea, indeed, of the ancient temphim nemo- 

 rale, one of the earliest forms of the artificial temple 

 seems to have been indebted. Many learned men t 

 have thought the Gothic arch of our cathedral 

 churches was an imitation of the natural grove. It 

 arises from a lofty stem, or from two or three 

 stems, if they be slender ; which, being bound to- 

 gether, and spreading in every direction, cover the 

 whole roof with their ramification. In the close 

 recesses of the beechen grove we find this idea the 

 most complete. The lofty, narrow aisle — the 

 pointed arch — the clustered pillar, whose parts, 

 separating without violence, diverge gradually to 

 form the fretted roof, find there perhaps their 

 earliest archetype. 



Groves, too, were the scenes of superstition, as 



* See Hampson's Memoirs' of Westley. 

 t See a note in Bp. "Warburton's edition of Pope's Epist. to 

 Lord Burlington. 



