THE SYCAMORE. 



137 



THE SYCAMORE 



is a species of the Maple : in favourable situations 

 it. attains to a considerable stature, and will re- 

 main a long time in a state of perfection. Evelyn 

 accuses it of contaminating the walks, wherein it 

 may be planted, with its leaves, which, like those 

 of the Ash, fall early, and putrefy with the first 

 moisture of the season. This great Oracle of the 

 Forests therefore remarks, that with his consent it 

 should be banished from all curious gardens and 

 avenues, though he acknowledges that for more dis- 

 tant plantations it is desirable ; particularly where 

 better timber will not prosper so well, as in places 

 near the sea ; it being no way injured by the spray, 

 which is so prejudicial to most trees. The frequent 

 allusions to the Sycamore in Holy Writ, show how 

 much it was cultivated in divers parts of Asia. 

 Zaccheus climbed up into a Sycamore-tree to see 

 our Saviour ride in triumph to Jerusalem ; and we 

 are told by St. Hierom, who lived in the fourth cen- 

 tury after Christ, that he had himself seen this same 

 tree ; a sufficient evidence of the length of time 

 which it will stand without decay. It is said of 

 Solomon, among his other meritorious deeds, that 

 Cedars made he to be as the Sycamore trees that 

 are in the vale, for abundance," 1 Kings x. 27. In 



