viii 
which she has handled it she craves his indul¬ 
gence. To herself, at all events, the task has 
been a most pleasant one, for during its progress 
she has wandered “fancy free” 
« By the rushy-firinged bank 
Where grows the willow and the osier dank 
and, anon, 
48 To arched walks of twilight groves. 
And shadows brown, that sylvan loves, 
Of pine, or monumental oak, 
Where the rude axe, with heaved stroke, 
Was never heard the nymphs to daunt, 
Or fright them from their hallowed haunt,” 
A source of great additional interest has been 
the preparation of the drawings for the illustra¬ 
tion of the work, which the author herself has 
ventured to execute from nature, and which she 
trusts will be found botanically correct. 
With regard to the arrangement of the differ¬ 
ent subjects, in compliment to the British sylva, 
the volume is opened with some of the mostcele- 
brated trees which compose it; but subsequently 
no particular plan has been followed, the pieces 
having been placed indiscriminately as fancy dic¬ 
tated. 
