chap. cv. c*oryla n ce;e. 4?ue'rcus. 1751 



cut clown than to plant." The statute of Henry VIII., c. 35., appears to be 

 the first on record which enjoins the " replantation of forest trees, to cure the 

 spoils and devastations that have been made in the woods ;" and the plant- 

 ations thus made appear to have been enclosed, as Tusser says in his directions 

 for April, — 



" Fence coppice in, 

 Yer hewers begin." 



And again, — 



" Sow acornes, ye owners that timber do love ; 

 Sow hay and rie with them, the better to prove : 

 If cattle or coney may enter the crop, 

 Young oak is in danger of losing his top." 



In the reign of Elizabeth, a work was published on Forest Law ; in which its 

 author, Manwood, tells us that " the slender and negligent execution of the 

 forest law hath been the decay and destruction (in almost all places withm 

 this realm) of great wood and timber ; the want whereof, as well in this 

 present time as in time to come, shall appear in the navy of this realm." 

 {Manwood on Forest Law, c. ii. 6.) In consequence of this, or some previous 

 representations, fresh laws were enacted (13 Eliz.) for the preservation and 

 restoration of the royal woods. In the reign of James I. (in 1611), Arthur 

 Standish published his celebrated Commons' Complaint, wherein is contained two 

 special Grievances ; the first of which is, " the generall destruction and waste of 

 woods in this kingdome, with a remedy for the same ; also, how to plant wood 

 according to the nature of any soyle," &c. To this work is appended a kind 

 of mandate : — "By the king, to all noblemen, and other our loving subjects 

 to whom it may appertain. Whereas, Arthur Standish, gentleman, hath taken 

 much pains, and been at great charges in composing and publishing in a book 

 some projects for the increasing of woods, the decay whereof in this realm is 

 universally complained of; and, therefore, we would be glad that any intention 

 might further the restoring thereof; we have therefore been pleased to give 

 allowance to his book, and to the printing thereof. And if the same shall be 

 willingly received of such of the gentlemen, and others of ability, who have 

 grounds fitting for his projects, it shall much content us ; doubting not but 

 that such as shall think good to make use of the book will deal worthily with 

 him for his pains. And we are also pleased, for the better encouragement of 

 the said Standish, hereby to declare, that our pleasure is, that no person or 

 persons whatsoever shall print any of the said books, but for and to the use 

 of the said Standish, and none others. Given under our signet at Andover, 

 the first day of August in the ninth year of our reign of England, France, and 

 Ireland, and of Scotland the five-and-fortieth. God save the king." 



In the same reign (1612), another book was published, entitled " An Olde 

 Thrift newly revived; wherein is declared the manner of planting, preserving, and 

 husbanding young trees of divers Kindes for Timber and Fuell; and of sowing 

 Acornes, Chesnuts, Beech-mast, the Seedes of Elmes, Ashen-keyes, &c." In 

 this work are given directions for planting acorns, and rearing and protecting the 

 young trees ; and the abuses in the management of the royal woods are pointed 

 out. The necessities of Charles I. induced him to make ruinous grants of 

 the royal woods to any person who would supply him with money ; and, in 

 the civil wars which followed, many of the forests were nearly destroyed. In 

 the reign of Charles II., an order was issued under the king's " sign manual to 

 Sir John Norton, woodward of the New Forest, to enclose 300 acres of waste, 

 as a nursery for young oak ; the expense of which was to be defrayed by the 

 sale of the decayed wood. This order bears date December 13. 1669. But, 

 though the enclosure here specified was trifling in itself, yet it had the merit 

 of a new project, and led to farther improvements." {Gilpin's For. Scen. y 

 vol. ii. p. 29.) These improvements, however, are not stated ; and no per- 

 manent regulation appears to have been made till the reign of William III., 

 when a statute was passed (Will. 10.) empowering certain commissioners to 

 enclose 2000 acres in the New Forest for the growth of naval timber ; and 

 200 more every year for the space of 20 years. From this period, go- 



