18 



SYLVA BRITANNIC A. 



and maturity, we must next consider it in the pe- 

 riod, far more' interesting to the painter, the poet, 

 or the moralist—of its decay. Who can look upon 

 an object like 



THE SALCEY FOREST OAK, 



without feeling contemplations awakened in his 

 breast, on the vicissitudes of ages, and the perish- 

 able nature of all created forms ; which must, for 

 the moment at least, elevate his thoughts to higher 

 states of existence, where good cannot deteriorate, 

 and is secure of endurance. 



Salcey Forest is in Northamptonshire ; between 

 the forests of Rockingham on the North, and of 

 Whittlebury on the South-west, by which the wood- 

 land part of that county is divided into three main 

 parcels. Of these Salcey Forest is the smallest; 

 being not more than a mile in breadth, and scarcely 

 a mile and a half in length : but its verdant appear- 

 ance, enlivened by the variety of spreading thorns, 

 which spring among its majestic Oaks, renders it, 

 particularly in the beginning of the summer, when 

 they put forth their white blossoms, and scent the 

 air with their fragrance, a delightful haunt for the 

 lovers of sylvan scenery. Camden speaks of it as a 

 place set apart for game ; and even in the present 

 day, its numerous troops of fallow deer, its tempting 



