6 



SYLVA BRITANNICA. 



of the beech, or sycamore, with the funereal majesty 

 of the cedar or the yew ; all differing in form and 

 character, as in colour : 



*' No tree in all the grove but has its charms. 

 And each its charui peculiar." 



COWPER. 



To a casual observer it may appear, that the view of 

 one tree is much like the view of another ; and that 

 a forest itself is more calculated to strike the imagi- 

 nation, by the greatness of its aggregate, than to 

 interest it by the variety of its detail ; but it is very 

 different with the ardent contemplatist of Nature ; 

 with him, as is well observed by St. Pierre, himself 

 an unwearied admirer of her charms, " every tree 

 has its individual character, and every group its 

 harmony." Every winding branch, and every shoot- 

 ing stem, has a charm for him ; and he is interested 

 throughout each stage of the existence of these 

 wonderful vegetable structures, from the tender sap- 

 ling to the leafless withered trunk. 



THE GREAT OAK OF PANSHANGER 



is a fine specimen of the Oak in its prime. The 

 epithet of Great was attached to it more than a 

 century ago ; it appears, however, even now to have 

 scarcely reached its meridian : the waving lightness 



