18 
the manor of Tortworth, in Gloucestershire, where it stands, and is mentioned as such by Evelyn, in his Syiva, 
b. ut. ¢. 8. At the time that it was thus conspicuous for its magnitude and vigour, we may reasonably suppose 
it to have been in its prime; if, therefore, we pay any regard to the received opinion which is applied to the 
Chesnut, equally with the Oak, that it is three hundred years in coming to perfection, this calculation takes us 
back to the beginning of the reign of Egbert, in the year 800, for the commencement of the existence of the 
Tortworth Chesnut. Since that epoch above a thousand years have rolled over its yet green head. How is it 
possible, bearing this reflection in our minds, to look upon its gigantic trunk, and widely-spreading arms, without 
feelings of reverence! How many, not merely generations of men, but whole nations, have been swept from 
the face of the earth, whilst, winter after winter, it has defied the howling blasts with its bare branches, and 
spring after spring put forth its leaves again, a grateful shelter from the summer suns! Its tranquil existence, 
unlike that of the human race, stained by no guilt, chequered by no vicissitudes, is thus perpetually renewing 
itself; and, if we judge from the luxuriance of its foliage, and the vigour of the branches which encircle the 
parent stem in wild profusion, may be prolonged for as many more centuries as it has already stood. Nor is it 
solitary in its old age. Its progeny rises around it, and its venerable roots are nearly hidden by the lighter 
saplings and bushes that have sought the protection of its boughs, making it appear a grove in itself—a fit resi- 
dence for some sylvan deity, and realising Cowley’s animated apostrophe : 
“ Fail, old patrician trees, so great and good ! That can the fair and living trees neglect, 
Hail, ye plebeian underwood, Yet the dead timber prize. 
Where the poetic birds rejoice, 
And for their quiet nests and plenteous food “ Here let me, careless and unthoughtfnl lying, 
Pay with their grateful voice. Hear the soft winds above me flying, 
With all their wanton boughs dispute, 
« Here Nature does a house for me erect,— And the more tuneful birds to both replying, 
Nature, the wisest architect, Nor be myself too mute.” 
Who those fond artists does despise 
It is only on approaching within the very limits overshadowed by its spreading branches, that the size of 
this majestic tree can be duly estimated: but when its full proportions are fairly viewed on all sides, it strikes 
the beholder with feelings of wonder and admiration, sufficient to produce conviction that the accounts which 
travellers have given of the monstrous bulk of the famous Chesnut on Mount Etna have not exceeded the truth. 
When we consider how beautiful and interesting an object a magnificent tree is in itself, how proud an 
ornament it forms to the spot whereon it flourishes—an ornament not to be equalled by any edifice reared by 
human hands; how incontestable a witness it stands to the ancient riches or honours of those on whose estates 
it may for ages have been cherished and preserved ; it might be imagined, that such as are fortunate enough to 
possess any remarkable treasures of this description in their parks or forests, would at least be as studious to 
retain them, as to amass other curiosities of nature or of art, which may be of comparatively short duration : 
yet the Tortworth Chesnut does not appear to have been treated with the respect due to its age and magnitude, 
or the care desirable for its continuance. It is only within a few years that it has been relieved from the 
pressure of three walls, in the angle of which it stood, and which must have greatly injured the spreading of its 
roots. The axe which would have been commendably employed in clearing the approach to it of brambles and 
briers, has, on the contrary, been barbarously, though not recently, applied to the tree itself; which has been 
wantonly despoiled of several large limbs on the north-east side, apparently many years ago: it is in conse- 
quence much decayed on that side, whilst on the others it is still sound. The Tortworth Chesnut, in 1766, 
measured fifty feet in circumference, at five feet from the ground. The body is ten feet in height, to the fork, 
where it divides into three limbs, one of which, at the period already mentioned, measured twenty-eight feet and 
a half in girth, at the distance of five feet from the parent stem. The solid contents, according to the customary 
method of measuring timber, are one thousand nine hundred and sixty-five feet; but its true geometrical contents 
must be much more. 
PLATE XXX.—THE SYCAMORE AND LIME IN COBHAM PARK. 
Tur Sycamore is a species of the Maple: in favourable situations it attains to a considerable stature, and 
‘will remain 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 
