Sylva, or, A discourse of forest-trees, and the propagation of timber in His Majesties dominions as it was deliver'd in the Royal Society the XVth of October, MDCLXII upon occasion of certain quæries propounded to that illustrious assembly, by the Honourable the Principal Officers, and Commissioners of the Navy : to which is annexed Pomona, or, An appendix concerning fruit-trees in relation to cider, the making, and severall wayes of ordering it published by expresse order of the Royal Society : also Kalendarivm hortense, or, the Gard'ners almanac, directing what he is to do monthly throughout the year / by John Evelyn ...

CHAP. XXXV. An Historical Account of the Sacrednesse, and Ʋse of standing Groves, &c. (Book 35)

1. ANd thus have we finish'd what we esteemed necessary for the Direction of Planting, and the Culture of Trees and Woods in general; whether for the raising of new, or preservati∣on of the more Antient and venerable shades, crowning the brows of lofty Hills, or furnishing, and adorning the more fruit∣ful and humble Plains; Groves and Forests, such as were never Prophan'd by the Inhumanity of Edge-tools: Woods, whose O∣riginal are as unknown as the Arcadians; like the goodly Cedars of Libanus, Psal. 104. Arbores Dei according to the Hebrew, for something doubtlesse which they noted in the Genius of those Venerable places besides their meer bulk and Stature: And veri∣ly, I cannot think to have well acquitted my self of this useful Subject, till I shall have in some sort vindicated the honour of Trees, and Woods, by shewing my Reader of what Estimation they were of old for their Divine, as well as Civil Ʋses; at least refresh both Him, and my Self, with what occurs of Historical and Instructive amongst the Learned concerning them.

2. Though Sylva was the more general Name, denoting a large Tract of Wood, or Trees, the inciduae and coeduae; yet there were several other Titles attributed to greater or lesser assemblies of them: As when they Planted them for Pleasure, and shade onely, they had their Nemora; and as we our Parks, for the pre∣servation of Game, and particularly Venizon, &c. their Saltus, and Sylva invia, secluded for the most part from the rest, &c. But among Authours, we meet with nothing more frequent, and indeed more celebrated, than those Arboreous amenities and Plan∣tations of Woods, which they call'd Luci; and which though some∣times we confesse, were restrain'd to certain peculiar places: Yet were they also promiscuously both used, and taken for all that the wide Forest comprehends, or can signifie. To dismiss a number of Critics, The name Lucus is deriv'd by Quintilian and others à minime Lucendo because of its densitie

—nullo penetrabilis astro.

whence Apuleius us'd Lucum sublucidum; and the Poets, Sublustris umbra: Others (on the contrary) have taken it for Light in the Masculine; because there they kindled Fires, by what acci∣dent unknown

— Whether it were By Lightning sent from Heaven, or else there The Salvage-men in mutual Wars and Fight, Had set the Trees on Fire, their Foes t' affright.

— Seu Coeli fulmine misso Sive quòd inter se bellum Sylvestria gentes Hostibus intulerant ignem, formidinis ergo, &c. Lucret. l. 5.

Or whether the Trees set Fire on themselves

When clashing boughs thwarting, each other fret. Mutua dum inter se rami stirpesque teruntur.

For such Accidents, and even the very heat of the Sun alone has kindled wonderful conflagrations: or happly to consume their Sacri∣fices, we will not much insist: The Poets it seems, speaking of Juno, would give it quite another original, and tune it to their Songs invoking Lucina, whilst the main and principal difference consisted not so much in the Name, as the Ʋse and Dedication, which was for silent, awful and more solemn Religion, to which purpose they were chiefly manu consiti, such as we have been treat∣ing of, intire, and never violated with the Ax: Fabius calls them Sacros ex Vetustate venerable for their Age; and certain it is, they had of very great Antiquity been Consecrated to Holy uses, not onely by Superstitious Persons to the Gentile Deities and Heroes; but the true God, by the Patriarchs themselves, who ab initio (as is presum'd) did frequently retire to such places to serve him in, Compose their Meditations, and celebrate Sacred Mysteries, Prayers, and Oblations following the Tradition of the Gomerites or Descendants of Noah who first Peopl'd Galata after the universal Deluge. From hence some presume that even the an∣tient Druids had their origin: But that Abraham might imitate what the most Religious of that Age had practis'd before him may

not be unlikely; for we read he soon Planted himself and Family at the Quercetum of Mambre, Gen. 13. where as Eusebius, Ecc. Hist. l. 1. c. 18. gives us the account, He spread his Pavilions, erected an Altar, Offer'd and perform'd all the Priestly Rites; and there, to the immortal glory of the Oak, or rather Arboreous Temple, he entertained God himself. Isidor, St. Hierom, and Sozomenus report confidently, that one of the most eminent of those Trees remain∣ed till the Reign of the great Constantine, who Founded a vene∣rable Chappel under it; and that both the Christians, Jews, and Arabs, held a solemn Anniversarie or Station there and believed that from the very time of Noah it had been a Consecrated place: sure we are it was about some such assembly of Trees, that God was pleas'd first of all to appear to the Father of the Faithful when he esta∣blished the Covenant with him, and more expressly, when remo∣ving thence (upon confirming the League with Abimelech, Gen. 21. and settling at Bersheba) he design'd an expresse place for Gods Divine Service: For there, says the sacred Text, He Planted a Grove, and called upon the Name of the Lord. Such another tuft we read of (for we must not alwayes restrain it to one single Tree) when the Patriarch came to 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Elon Moreh, ad Convallem illustrium: But whether that were the same in which the High-Priest reposited the famous Stone after the Exhortation mention'd Joshua 24.26. we do not contend; under an Oak sayes the Scri∣pture, and it grew near the Sanctuary, and probably might be that which his Grand child Consecrated with the Funeral of his be∣loved Rebecca, Gen. 35. For 'tis apparent by the Context, that There, God appeared to him again: So Grotius upon the words (Subter quercum) Illam ipsam (sayes he) cujus mentio, Gen. 35.4. in historia Jacobi & Judae; and adds, Is locus in honorem Jacobi diù pro Templo fuit. That the very spot was long after us'd for a Tem∣ple in honour of him.

3. If we would track the Religious esteem of Trees and Woods, yet farther in Holy Writ, we have that glorious Vision of Moses in the fiery Thicket, and it is not to abuse or violate the Text, that Moncaeus and others, interpret it to have been an intire Grove, and not a single Bush onely, which he saw as burning, yet uncon∣sum'd. Puto égo (sayes my Authour) rubi vocabulo non quidem rubum aliquem unicum & solitarium significari, verum rubetum to∣tum, aut potius fruticetum, quomodo de Quercu Mambre pro Quer∣ceto toto Docti intelligunt. Now that they Worshipped in that Place soon after their coming out of Aegypt, the following story shews; and the Feast of Tabernacles had some resemblance of Patriarchal De∣votion under Trees, though but in temporary Groves and Shades in manner of Booths, yet Celebrated with all the refreshings of the Forest; and from the very Infancy of the World in which Adam was entertain'd in Paradise, and Abraham (as we noted) recei∣v'd his Divine Guests, not in his Tent, but under a Tree, an Oak, Triclinium Angelicum the Antients Dining-Room; all intelligent persons have imbrac'd the solace of shady Arbours, and all devout

Persons found how naturally they dispose our Spirits to Religious Contemplations: For this, as some conceive, they much affect∣ed to Plant their Trees in Circles, and gave that capacious Form to the first Temples▪ observ'd not onely of old, but even at this day by the Jews, as the most accommodate for their Assemblies; or, as others, because that figure most resembl'd the Ʋniverse, and the Heavens: Templum à Templando says a knowing Critic, and another, Templum est nescio quid immane, atque amplum; such as Arnobius speaks of, that had no Roof but Heaven, till that sumptu∣ous Fabric of Solomon was confin'd to Jerusalem, and the goodli∣est Cedars, and most costly Woods were carried thither to form the Columns, and lay the Rafters; and then, and not till then, was it so much as Schisme that I can find, to retire to Groves for their Devotion, or even to Bethel it self.

4. In such Recesses were the antient Oratories and Proseuchae built even amongst the Gentiles, as well as the People of God (nor is it alwaies the lesse authentical for having been the guise of Nations) hence that of Philo, speaking of one who 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. that had fell'd all the Trees about it; and such a place the Satyrist means, where he asks, In qua te quaero proseucha? because it was the Rendezvous also, where poor People us'd to frequent to beg the Alms of devout and Charitable Persons; and it was esteemed piacular for any to cut down so much as a stick about them, unlesse it were to build them, when with the Psalmist, men had honour according to their forwardnesse of repairing the Houses of God in the Land, upon which account it was lawful to lift up Axes against the goodliest Trees in the Forest; but those zealous dayes are past,

Now Temples shut, and Groves desertedly, All Gold adore, and neglect Piety.

Et nunc desertis cessant sacraria Lucis Aurum omnes victâ, jam Pietate colunt. Propert.

5. They came afterwards indeed to be abus'd to Superstition, but what good, or indifferent thing has not been subject to per∣version? It is said in the end of Isaiah, Exprobratur Hebraeis quod in Opisthonais Idolorum horti essent in quorum medio februabantur; but how this is applicable to Groves does not appear so fully; though we find them interdicted, Deut. 16.21. Judg. 6.26. 2 Chron: 31.3. &c. and forbidden to be Planted neer the Temple; and an impure Grove on Mount Libanus dedicated to Venus, was by an Imperial Edict of Constantine extirpated; but from the abuse of the thing to the non-use, the Consequence is not alwayes valid, and we may note as to this very particular, that where in divers places of Holy Writ, the denuntiation against Groves is so express, it is frequently to be taken but catachrestically, from the Wooden Image or Statue call'd by that name, as our Learned Selden makes out by sundry Instances in his Syntagma de Diis Syris.

The Summe of all is, Paradise it self was but a kind of Nemo∣rous Temple or sacred Grove, Planted by God himself, and given

to Man, tanquam primo sacerdoti, the Word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 which pro∣perly signifies to Serve or administer res divinas, a place Con∣secrated for sober Discipline, and to Contemplate those mysteri∣ous and Sacramental Trees which they were not to touch with their hands; and in memory of them, I am inclin'd to believe, Holy Men (as we have shew'd in Abraham and others) might Plant and cultivate Groves, where they traditionally invok'd the Deity; and St. Hierom, Chrysostom, Cyprian, Augustine, and other Fathers of the Church greatly magnified these pious advantages; and Cajetan tells us, that from Isaac to Jacob and their Descen∣dants they followed Abraham in this Custome: In such places were the Monuments of their Saints, and the Bones of their He∣roes deposited; for which David celebrated the Humanity of the Galaadites, In Nemora Jabes as the most sacred and inviolable: In such a place did the Angel appear to Gideon, and in others Princes were Inaugurated; so Abimelec, Judic. 9. And the Rabbines add a reason why they were reputed so Venerable; because more remote from Men and Company, more apt to compose the Soul and fit it for divine Actions, and sometimes Apparitions, for which the first enclosures were attributed to Groves, Mountains, Foun∣tains of Water, and the like solemn objects; as of peculiar Sancti∣ty, and as the old sense of all words denoting Sanctity did im∣port separatenesse and uncommon propriety: See our Learned Meade. For though since the Devils intrusion into Paradise, even the most holy and devoted Places were not free from his Tenta∣tions and ougly Stratagems: Yet we find our Blessed Saviour did frequently retire into the Wildernesse, as Elijah and St. John did before him, and divers other Holy men: The reason is ob∣vious, and I shall shew when I come to speak concerning the use of Gardens in another Work (long since attempted, and now in some forwardnesse) how the Air of such retired places may be assistant and influential for the inciting of Penitential ex∣pressions and affections; especially where one may have the ad∣ditional assistances of solitary Grotts, murmuring Streams, and desolate Prospects: I remember that under a Tree was the place of that admirable St. Augustines solemn Conversion, after all his importunate reluctances: I have often thought of it, and it is a mealting passage as himself has recorded it, Con. l. 8. c. 8. and he gives the reason, Solitudo enim mihi ad negotium flendi aptior suggerebatur. And that indeed such opportunities were success∣ful for Recollection, and to the very reformation of some ingeni∣ous Spirits from secular Engagements to excellent and mortify∣ing Purposes, we may find in that wonderful relation of Pontia∣nus's two Friends, great Courtiers of the time, as the same Holy Father relates it, previous to his own Conversion.

6. We shall now in the next place endevour to shew how this innocent veneration to Groves passed from the People of God to the Gentiles, and by what degrees it degenerated into dangerous Superstitions: For the Devil was alwayes Gods Ape, and did

so ply his Groves, Altars, and Sacrifices, and almost all other Rites belonging to his Worship, that every Green Tree was full of his Abominations, and places devoted to his impure Service, Hi fuêre (says Pliny, speaking of Groves) quondam Numinum tem∣pla, &c. These, were of old the Temples of the Gods, and after that simple (but antient Custom) men at this day Consecrate the fairest and goodliest Trees to some Deity or other; nor do we more adore our glittering Shrines of Gold and Ivory, than the Groves, in which with a profound and awful silence, we wor∣ship them. For in truth the very Tree it self was sometimes Dei∣fied, and that Celtic Statue of Jupiter no better than a prodigi∣ous tall Oak, whence 'tis said the Chaldean Theologues deriv'd their superstition towards it; and the Persians we read, us'd that Tree in all their mysterious Rites; so as to some they proceeded to the offering even of humane Sacrifices,

Each Tree besprinckled was with humane gore. Omnis & humanis lustrata cruoribus arbos. Lucan l. 3.

Procopius tells us plainly that the Sclavii worshipped Trees and whole Forests of them: See Jo. Dubravius l. 1. Hist. Bohem. and that formerly the Gandenses did the like, Surius the Legendary 6. Feb. reports in the life of S. Amadus: So did the Vandals says Albert Crantz; and even those of Peru, as I learn from Acosta l. 5. c. 11. But one of the first Idols which procur'd particular vene∣ration in them was the Sidonian Ashtaroth who took her name à Lucis, as the Jupiter 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 amongst the Rhodians, the Nemo∣rensis Diana or Arduenna, and others who had peculiar Worship in the Groves; so soon had Men degenerated into this irrational and stupid Devotion, that Arch-Fanatic Sathan (who began his pranks in a Tree) debauching the Contemplative use of Groves and other Solitudes. Nor were the Heathens alone in this crime, the Basilidians and other Haeretics even amongst the Christians, did con∣secrate to the Woods and the Trees their Serpent-footed and bar∣barous 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, as it is yet to be seen in some of their mysteri∣ous Talismans and Periapta's which they carried about.

* 1.1But the Roman madnesse (like that which the Prophet derides in the Jews) was well perstring'd by Sedulius and others for im∣ploring these Stocks to be propitious to them, as we learn in Ca∣to de R.R. c. 113.134. &c. And it was not long after, when they were generally Consecrated by Faunus, that they boldly set up his Oracles and Responses in these nemorous places: Hence the Heathen Chappels had the name of Fana, and from their wild and extravagant Religion, the Professors of it Phanatics; a name well becoming some of our late Enthusiasts amongst us; who, when their Quaking fits possesse them, resemble the giddy moti∣on of Trees, whose heads are agitated with every wind of Do∣ctrine.

7. Here we may not omit what Learned men have observ'd concerning the Custome of Prophets and Persons inspir'd of old, to sleep upon the Boughs and branches of Trees (I do not mean on the tops of them, as the Salvages somewhere do in the Indies for fear of Wild Beasts in the night time) but on Matrasses and Beds made of their Leaves, ad Consulendum to ask advise of God. Naturalists tell us, that the Laurus and Agnus Castus were Trees which greatly compos'd the Phansy, and did facilitate true Visions; and that the first was specifically efficacious 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 (as my Authour expresses it) to Inspire a Poetical fury: Such a Tradition there goes of Rebecca the Wife of Isaack,* 1.2 in imitation of her Father in Law: The Instance is recited out of an anci¦ent Ecclesiastical History by Abulensis; and (what I drive at) that from hence the Delphic Tripos, the Dodonaean Oracle in Epirus, and others of that nature had their Originals: At this decubation upon Boughs the Satyrist seems to hint where he introduces the Gypsies.

—with fear The poor she Jew begs in my Ladies ear, The Groves high Priestesse, Heavens true messenger, Hierusalem's old Lawes expounds to her. Stapylton.

Arcanam Judaea tremens mendicat in aurem Interpres Legum Solymarum, & magn Sacerdos Arboris, ac summi fida internuncia Coeli. Juv. Sat. 6.

For indeed the Delphic Oracle (as Diodorus l. 16. tells us) was first made è Lauri ramis of the Branches of Laurel transferr'd from Thessaly, bended, and arched over in form of a Bower or Summer-house, a very simple Fabric you may be sure: And Cardan I re∣member in his Book de Fato, insists very much on the Dreams of Trees for portents and presages, and that the use of some of them do dispose men to Visions.

8.* 1.3 From hence then began Temples to be erected and sought to in such Places, and as there was hardly a Grove without its Tem∣ple, so had every Temple almost, a Grove belonging to it, where they plac'd Idols, and Altars and Lights endow'd with fair Reve∣nues which the devotion of Superstitious persons continually aug∣mented; and I remember to have seen something very like this in Italy, and other Parts, namely, where the Images of the B. Vir∣gin and other Saints have been enshrin'd in hollow and umbragi∣ous Trees frequented with much veneration, which puts me in mind of what that great Traveller Pietro della Valla relates, where he speaks of an extraordinary Cypresse, yet extant, near the Tomb of Cyrus, to which at this day many Pilgrimages are made, and speaks of a Gummy transudation which it yields, that the Turks affirm to turn every Friday into drops of Blood: The Tree is hollow within, adorn'd with many Lamps, and fitted for an Orato∣ry, and indeed some would derive the name Lucus a Grove, as more particularly to signifie such enormous and cavernous Trees quod ibi lumina accenderentur Religionis causa: But our Author adds, The Ethnics do still repute all great Trees to be divine, and the habitation of Souls departed: These the Persians call Pir

and Imàm. Perhaps such a hollow Tree was that Asylum of our Poets Hero, when he fled from his burning Troy,

— an antient Cypresse near Kept by Religious Parents many a year.

—ju••••a{que} antiqua Cupressus Religione Patrum multos servata per annos. Aen. 2.

For that they were places of Protection, and priviledg'd like Churches, and Altars, appears out of Livy and other good Autho∣rity: Thus where they introduce Romulus encouraging his new Colony,

So soon as ere the Grove he had immur'd Hast hither (says he) here you are secur'd.

—ut saxo Lucum circumdedit alto Quilibet, huc, dicit, Confuge, tutus eris.

Such a Sanctuary was the Aricina, and Suburban Diana, call'd the Nemorale Templum, and divers more which we shall reckon up anon.

9. The Mysteries which the famous Druids celebrated in their Woods and Forests, are at large to be found in Caesar, Pliny, Stra∣bo, Diodorus, Mela, Apuleius, Ammianus, Lucan, Aventinus, and in∣numerable other Writers, where you will see that they chose the Woods and the Groves, not onely for all their Religious Exercises, but their Courts of Justice; as the whole Institution and Disci∣pline is recorded by Caesar, l. 6. and as he it seems found it in our Countrey of Britain, from whence it was afterwards translated into Gallia: For he attributes the first rise of it to this once hap∣py Island of Groves, and Oaks; and affirms that the antient Gauls travelled hither for their initiation. To this Tacitus assents, 14 Annal. and our most Learned Critics who vindicate it both from the Greeks and French, who frequently challenge it: But the very Name it self, which is purely Celtic, does best decide the Con∣troversie: For though 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 be Quercus; yet Vossius skilfully proves that the Druids were altogether strangers to the Greeks; but what comes yet nearer to us, Dru, fides (as one observes) begetting our now antiquated Trou, or True, makes our title the stronger: Add to this, that amongst the Germans it signified no lesse than God it self; and we find Drutin or Trudin to import Di∣vine or Faithful in the Othfridian Gospel, both of them Sacerdotal expressions. But that in this Island of ours men should be so ex∣treamly devoted to Trees, and especially to the Oak, the strength and defence of all our enjoyments, inviron'd as we are by the Seas, and Martial Neighbours, is lesse to be wonder'd,

Our Brittish Druids not with vain intent, Or without Providence did the Oke frequent; That Albion did that Tree so much advance Nor Superstition was, nor ignorance Those Priests divining even then, bespoke The mighty Triumphs of the Royal Oake. When the Seas Empire with like boundlesse fame Victorious CHARLES the Son of CHARLES shall claim,

Non igitur Dryadae nostrates pectore vano Nec sine consulto coluerunt Numine Quercum, Non illam Albionis jam tum celebravit honore Stulta Superstitio, venturive inscia secli Angliaci ingentes puto praevidisse triumphos Roboris, Imperiumque maris quod maximus olim, CAROLIDES vastâ Victor ditione teneret. Couleii L. 6. Pl.

as we may find the Praediction gloriously followed by our ingeni∣ous Poet, where his Dryad consignes that Sacred Depositum to this Monarch of the Forest the Oak, than which nothing can be more sublime and rapturous.

10. From those Sylvan Philosophers and Divines (not to speak much of the Indian Brachmans descended of the antient Gymno∣sophists) 'tis believed that the great Pythagoras might Institute his silent Monasterie; and we read that Plato entertain'd his Audi∣tors amongst his Walks of Trees, which were afterward defac'd by the inhumanity of Sylla, when as Appian tells us, he cut down those venerable shades to build Forts against Pyraeus: And ano∣ther we find he had, Planted near Anicerides with his own hands, wherein grew that celebrated Platanus under which he introduces his Master Socrates discoursing with Phaedon de Pulchro: Such a∣nother place was the Athenian Cephisia as Agellius describes it: Democritus also taught in a Grove, as we find in that of Hippocra∣tes to Damagetus, where there is a particular Tree design'd ad Otium literarum;* 1.4 and I remember Tertullian calls these places Stu∣dia opaca: I could here tell you of Palaemon, Timon, Apollonius, Theophrastus, and many more that erected their Schools in such Col∣leges of Trees, but I spare my Reader; I shall onely note that 'tis reported of Thucydides that he compiled his noble History in the Scaplan Groves▪ as Pliny writes; and in that matchless piece de Ora∣tore, we shall find the Interlocutors to be often under the Platanus in his Tusculan Villa, where invited by the freshnesse and sweetness of the place Admonuit (says one of them) me haec tua Platanus quae non minus ad opacandum hunc locum patulis & diffusa ramis quam illa, cujus umbram secutus est Socrates, quae mihi videtur non tam ipsa aquula, quae describitur, quàm Platonis oratione crevisse, &c. as the Orator brings it in, in the person of one of that meeting.

I confesse Quintilian seems much to question whether such pla∣ces do not rather perturb and distract from an Orators Recollecti∣on,* 1.5 and the depths of Contemplation: Non tamen (sayes he) protinus audiendi, qui credunt aptissima in hoc Nemora, sylvasque, quod illa coeli libertas, locorumque amaenitas, sublimem animum, & beatiorem spiritum parent: Mihi certè jucundus hic magis; quàm studiorum hortator videtur esse secessus: Nam{que} illa ipsa quae delectant, necesse est avocent ab intentione operis destinati: He proceeds —Quare Sylvarum amoenitas, & praeter labentia flu∣mina, & inspirantes ramis arborum aurae, volucrúmque cantus & ipsa latè circumspiciendi libertas, ad se trahunt; ut mihi remittere potius vo••uptas ista videatur cogitationem quam intendere. But this is onely his singular suffrage, which as conscious of his Er∣ror, we soon hear him retract, when he is by and by as loud in its Praises, as the Places in the World, the best fitted for the diviner Rhetorique of Poetry: But let us admit another to cast in his Symbol for Groves: Nemora (sayes he) & Luci, & se∣cretum ipsum, tantam mihi afferunt voluptatem ut inter precipu∣os Carminum fructus, majorem, quod nec in strepitu, nec sedente

ante hostium litigatore, nec inter Sordes & lacrymas reorum com∣primantur: Sed secedit animus in loca pura, atque innocentia, fru∣turque sedibus Sacris.

And indeed the Poets thought of no other Heaven upon Earth, or elsewhere; for when Anchises was setting forth the felicity of the other life to his Son, the most lively description he could make of it was to tell him,

—We dwell in shady Groves, —Lucis habitamus opacit

and that when Aeneas had travell'd far to find those happy A∣bodes,

They came to Groves, of happy Souls the Rest To Ever-greens, the dwellings of the Blest.

Devenere locos latos, & amoena vireta Fortunatorum Nemorum, Sedesque beatas.

Such a prospect he gives us of his Elysium; and therefore wise and great Persons had alwayes these sweet opportunities of Recesse, their Domos Sylvae, as we reed, 2 Reg. 7.2. which were thence cal∣led Houses of Royal Refreshment, or as the Septuagint 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, not much unlike the Lodges in divers of our Noble-mens Parks, and Forest-Walks; which minds me of his choice in another Poem,

In lofty Towers let Pallas take her rest, Whilst shady Groves 'boue all things please us best.

— Pallas quas condidit arces, Ipsa colat, nobis placeant ante omnia Sylvae. Eclog. 2.

And for the same reason Mecoenas

—Chose the broad Oak — Maluit umbrosam Quercum—

and as Horace bespeaks them,

Me the cool Woods above the rest advance Where the rough Satyrs with the light Nymphs dance.

— Me gelidum nemus Nympharum{que} leves cum Satyris Chori, Secernunt populo —

and Virgil again,

Our sweet Thalia loves, nor does she scorn To haunt umbragious Groves — Nostra nec ••rubuit Sylvas habitare Thalia.

or as thus expressed by Petrarch,

— The Muse her self injoys Best in the Woods, verse flies the City noyse.

Sylva placet Musis, urbs est inimica Poetis.

So true is that of yet a better Poet of our own;

As well might Corn, as Verse in Cities grow, In vain the thanklesse Glebe we Plow and Sow, Against th' unnatural Soil in vain we strive, 'Tis not a ground in which these Plants will thrive. Conley.

When it seems they will bear nothing but Nettles, and Thorns of Satyrs,

and as Juvenal sayes, by Indignation too; and therefore almost all the Poets, except those who were not able to eat Bread without the Bounty of Great men; that is, without what they could get by flattering them (which was Homer's and Pin∣dar's case) have not onely withdrawn themselves from the Vi∣ces and Vanities of the great World, into the innocent felicities of Gardens, and Groves, and Retirednesse, but have also com∣mended and adorned nothing so much in their never-dying Po∣ems.

Here then is the true Parnassus, Castalia, and the Muses, and at every call in a Grove of Venerable Oaks, methinks I hear the answer of an hundred old Druyds, and the Bards of our in∣spired Ancestors.

Innumerable are the Testimonies I might produce in behalf of Groves and Woods out of the Poets, Virgil, Gratius, Ovid, Ho∣race, Claudian, Statius, Silius, and others of latter times, espe∣cially the divine Petrarch; were I minded to swell this Charming Subject, beyond the limits of a Chapter: I think onely to take notice, that Theatrical Representations, such as were those of the Ionian call'd Andria; the Scenes of Pastorals, and the like inno∣cent Rural Entertainments were of old adorn'd and trimm'd up è ramis & frondibus, cum racemis & corymbis, and frequently re∣presented in Groves, as the Learned Scaliger shews:* 1.6 And here the most beloved of Apollo rooted his coy Mistris, and the no∣blest Raptures have been conceiv'd in the Walks and shades of Trees, and Poets have composed Verses which have animated men to Heroic and glorious Actions; here Orators (as we shew∣ed) have made their Panegyrics, Historians grave Relations, and the Profound Philosophers lov'd here to passe their lives in re∣pose and Contemplation, and the frugal Repasts —mollesque sub arbore somni were the natural and chast delights of our Fore-Fathers.

12. Nor were Groves thus onely frequented by the great Scho∣lars, and the great Wits, but by the greatest Statesmen and Po∣litians also; and the Athenians were wont to Consult of their gravest matters and Publick Concernments in them. Famous for these Assemblies were the Ceraunian, and at Rome the Lucus Petilinus, the Farentinus, and others, in which there was held that renowned Parliament after the Defeat of the Gaules by M. Popilio: For 'twas supposed that in places so Sacred, they would Faithfully and Religiously observe what was Concluded amongst them.

In such green Palaces the first Kings reign'd, Slept in their Shades, and Angels entertain'd: With such old Counsellors they did advise, And by frequenting Sacred Groves, grew Wise; Free from th' impediments of Light and Noyse, Man thus retir'd, his nobler thoughts imploys. Mr. Wallet.

As our excellent Poet has describ'd it: and amongst other weigh∣ty matters they treated of Matches for their Children, and the Young people made Love in the cooler Shades, and ingrav'd their Mistris's Names upon the Bark,* 1.7 tituli aereis literis insculpti as Pliny speaks of that Antient Vatican Ilex, and Euripides in Hippolyto, where he shews us how they made the incision, whisper their soft Complaints like that of Aristaenetus 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. and wish that it had but a Soul and a Voyce to tell Cydippe, the fair Cydippe, how she was belov'd:* 1.8 And doubtlesse this Character was Antienter than that in Paper; let us hear the Amorous Poet leaving his young Couple thus Courting each other.

My name on Bark engraven by your fair hand, Oenone, there, cut by your knife does stand; And with the Stock my Name alike do's grow, Be't so, and my advancing honour show.

Incisae servant a te mea nomina fagi Et Legor Oenone falce notata tua, Et quantum trunci, tantum mea nomina crescunt, Crescite, & in titulos surgite ritè meos. Ovid. Ep.

which doubtlesse he learnt of Maro describing the unfortunate Gallus.

There on the tender bark to carve my Love; And as they grow, so shall my hopes improve. Ogilby.

— tenerisque meos incidere amores Arboribus; Crescentillae, crescetis amores. Eclog. 10.

and these pretty Monuments of Courtship I find were much used on the Cherry-tree (the Wild one I suppose) which has a very smooth Rind, as the witty Calfurnius,

Repeat, thy words on Cherry-bark I'll take, And that red skin my Table-book will make.

Dic age, nam Cerasi tua cortice verba notab•• Et decisa feram rutilanti carmina libro.

I omit Olympius Nemesianus, and others, for we have dwelt too long on this trifle, but we will now change the Scene as the Ae∣gyptians did the mirth of their Guests when they serv'd in a Scull to make them more serious. For,

13. Amongst other Uses of Groves, I read that some Nations were wont to hang, not Malefactors onely, but their departed Friends, and those whom they most esteemed upon Trees, as so much nearer to Heaven, and dedicated to God; believing it far more honourable than to be buried in the Earth; and that some affected to repose rather in these Woody places Propertius seems to bespeak.

The Gods forbid my Bones in the high-Road Should lye▪ by every wandring vulgar trod; Thus buried Lovers are to scorn expos'd, My Tomb in some by Arbor be inclos'd.

Di faciant mea ne terrâ locet ossa frequenti Quâ facit assiduo tramite vulgus iter, Post mortem tumuli sic infamantur amantum, Me tegat arboreâ devia terra comâ.

The same is affirmed of other Septentrional People by Chr. Cili∣cus de Bello Dithmarsico l. 1. We have already mention'd Rebec∣cah, and read of Kings themselves that honoured such places with their Sepulchres: What else should be the meaning of 1 Chro.

10.12. when the valiant men of Jabesh interr'd the Bones of Saul and Jonathan under the Oke. Famous was the Hyrnethian Caemeterie where Daiphon lay; Ariadnes Tomb was in the Ama∣thusian Grove in Crete, now Candie: For they believed that the Spirits and Ghosts of Men delighted to expatiate and appear in such solemn places, as the Learned Grotius notes from Theophylact, speaking of the Daemons, upon Mat. 8 20. for which cause Pla∣to gave permission, that Trees might be Planted over Graves, to obumbrate and refresh them.

Our Blessed Saviour chose the Garden sometimes for his Ora∣tory, and dying, for the place of his Sepulchre; and we do a∣vouch for many weighty causes, that there are none more fit to bury our Dead in, than in our Gardens and Groves, where our Beds may be decked with verdant and fragrant Flowers, Trees and Perennial Plants, the most natural and instructive Hieroglyphics of our expected Resurrection and Immortality, besides what they might conduce to the Meditation of the living, and the taking off our Cogitations from dwelling too intently upon more vain and sensual Objects; that Custom of Burying in Churches, and near about them (especially in great and populous Cities) be∣ing both a Novel Presumption, undecent, and very unhealth∣ful.

14. To make this Discourse the more absolute, we shall add a short recital of the most famous Groves which we find Celebrated in Hi∣stories; and those, besides many already mention'd, were such as being Consecrated both to Gods and Men, bore their Names: A∣mongst these are reckoned the Sacred to Minerva, Isis, Latona, Cy∣bele, Osiris, Aesculapius, Diana, and especially the Aricinian, in which there was a goodly Temple erected, placed in the midst of an I∣land, with a vast Lake about it, a Mount, and a Grotto adorn'd with Statues, and irrigated with plentiful Streams: and this was that renouned Recesse of Numa, where he so frequently conversed with his Aegeria, as did Minos in the Cave of Jupiter, and by whose pretended Inspirations they gain'd the deceived People, and made them receive what Lawes he pleas'd to impose upon them. To these we may joyn, the Groves of Vulcan, Venus, and the little Cupid: Mars, Bellona, Bacchus, Sylvanus, the Muses, and that neer Helicon from the same Numa, their great Patron; and hence had they their Name Camoenae. In this was the noble Statue of Eupheme Nurse to those Poetical Ladies; but so the Feranian and even Mons Parnassus, were thick shaded with Trees. Nor may we omit the more impure Lupercal Groves Sacred, or Pro∣phan'd rather, yet most famous for their affording shelter and foster to Romulus, and his Brother Rhemus.

That of Vulcan was usually guarded by Dogs, like the Town of S. Malos in Bretaigne: The Pinea Sylva appertain'd to the Mo∣ther of the Gods, as we find in Virgil. Venus had several Groves in Aegypt, and in the Gnidian Island, where once stood those fa∣mous Statues cut by Praxiteles; another in Pontus, where (if

you'll believe it) hung up the Golden Fleece for the bold Adven∣turer. Nor was the Watry-King Neptune without his Groves, the Helicean in Greece was his: So Ceres, and Proserpine, Pluto, Vesta, Castor and Pollux had such shady Places Consecrated to them; add to these the Lebadian, Arfinoan, Paphian, Senonian, and such as were in general dedicated to all the Gods.

—The Gods have dwelt in Groves. —Habitarunt dii quoque Sylva••.

And these were as it were Pantheons. To the memory of famous Men and Heros were Consecrated the Achillean, Aglauran, and those to Bellerophon, Hector, Alexander, and to others who disdained not to derive their Names from Trees and Forests; as Sylvius the Po∣sthumus of Aeneas; divers of the Albanian Princes, and great Per∣sons; Stolon, Laura, Daphnis, &c. And a certain Custom there was for the Parents to Plant a Tree at the Birth of an Heir or Son, presag∣ing by the growth and thriving of the Tree the prosperity of the Child: Thus we read in the life of Virgil, and how far his Nata∣litial Poplar had out-strip'd the rest of its Contemporaries. And the reason doubtlesse of all this was, the general repute of the Sanctity of those Places; for no sooner does the Poët speak of a Grove, but immediately some Consecration follows, as believing that out of those shady Profundities some Deity must needs emerge,

Quo possis viso dicere Numen inest.

so as Tacitus (speaking of the Germans) sayes, Lucos & Nemora consecrant, Deorumque nominibus appellant secretum illud, quod so∣lâ reverentiâ vident; and the Consecration of these Nemorous places we find in Quintus Curtius, and in what Paulus Diaconus de Lege relates of the Longobards where the Rites are expresse, allur'd as 'tis likely by the gloominesse of the Shade, procerity and altitude of the Stem, floridnesse of the leaves and other ac∣cidents, not capable of Philosophising on the Physical Causes, which they deem'd supernatural, and plainly divine; so as to use the words of Prudentius,

Here all Religion paid; whose dark Recesse A sacred awe does on their mind impresse, To their Wild Gods—

Quos penes omne sacrum est, quicquid formid•• trem••udu•••• Suaserit horrificos, quos prodigialia cogun•• Monstra Deos— L. 2. Cout. Sym.

And this deification of their Trees, and amongst other things, for their Age and perennial viridity, sayes Diodorus, might spring from the manifold use which they afforded, and happly had been taught them by the Gods, or rather by some God-like persons, whom for their worth and the publick benefit they esteemed so; and that divers of them were voyc'd to have been Metamorphoz'd

from Men into Trees, and again out of Trees into Men, as the Ar∣cadians gloried in their Birth, when

Out of the teeming Bark of Oakes men burst. Géusque virûm, truncis, & rupto robore nati,

which perhaps they fancied, by seeing men creep sometimes out of their Cavities, in which they often lodg'd and secur'd them∣selves;

For in th' Earths non-age under Heavens new frame, They stricter liv'd, who from Oaks rupture came. Stapylton.

Quippe aliter tunc orbe novo coelòque recenti Vivebant homines qui rupto robore nati, &c. Juven. l. 2. S. 6.

Or as the sweet Papinius,

Fame goes that thou brake forth from the hard rind, When the new earth with the first feet was sign'd? Fields yet nor Houses doleful pangs reliev'd But shady Ash the numerous births receiv'd, And the green Babe drop'd from the pregnant Elm, Whom strange amazement first did over-whelm At break of day, and when the gloomy night Ravish'd the Sun from their pursuing sight, Gave it for lost—

— Nemorum vos stirpe rigen••i — Fama satos, cum prima pedum vestigia tellus Admirata tulit, nondum arva, domúsque ferebant Cruda puerperia, ac populos umbrosa creavit, Fraxinus, & foetâ viridis puer excidit Orno: Hi Lucis stupuisse vices, noctísque feruntur, Nubila, & occiduum Longe Titana secuti Desperâsse diem—

almost like that which Rinaldo saw in the Inchanted Forest.

An aged Oak beside him cleft and rent, And from his fertile hollow womb forth went (Clad in rare weeds, and strange habilement) A full grown Nymph. —

Quercia gli appar, che per se ste•••••• incis•• Apre feconda il cavo ventre, è figlia: En' esce fuor vestita in strania guisa Ninfa d' età cresciuta. — Canto 18.

And that every great Tree included a certain tutelar Genius or Nymph living and dying with it, the Poets are full; a special in∣stance we have in that prodigious Oak which fell by the fatal stroke of Erisichthon; but the Hamadryads it seems were immor∣tal, and had power to remove, and change their wooden habi∣tations.

15. We might here produce wonderful strange Apparitions of this nature, interceding for the standing, and life of Trees, when the Ax has been ready for Execution,* 1.9 as you may see in that Hymn of Callimachus, Pausanias, and the famous story of Paraebius re∣lated by Apollonius in 2. Argonaut. with the fearful Catastrophe of such as causelesly and wantonly violated those goodly Plantations (from which fables arose, that of the Dodonean and vocal Forests, frequent in Heathen Writers) but by none so Elegantly as the witty Ovid, describing the Fact of the wicked Erisichthon.

—Who Gods despis'd, Nor ever on their Altars sacrific'd,

— Qui numina divûm Sperneret, & nullos aris adoleret honores &c.

Who Ceres Groves with steel prophan'd: Where stood An old huge Oak; even of it self a Wood.

Wreaths, Ribands, grateful Tables deckt his boughs And sacred Stem; the Dues of powerful Vows. Full oft the Dryades, with Chaplets crown'd, Danc't in the shade; full oft they tript a Round About his bole. Five Cubits three times told His ample Circuit hardly could infold. Whose stature other Trees as far exceeds, As other Trees surmount the humble Weeds. Yet this his Fury rather did provoke: Who bids his Servants fell the Sacred Oak. And snatches, while they paus'd, an Ax from one, Thus storming: Not the Goddesse lov'd alone; But, though this were the Goddesse, she should down, And sweep the Earth with her aspiring Crown. As he advanc'd his Arms to strike, the Oak Both sigh'd and trembl'd at the threatning stroke. His Leaves and Acorns, pale together grew, And colour-changing-branches sweat cold deaw: Then wounded by his impious hand, the Blood Gush'd from th' incision in a purple flood: Much like a mighty Ox, that falls before The Sacred Altar, sprouting streams of gore. On All amazement seiz'd: When One of all The Crime deters, nor would his Ax let fall. Contracting his stern brows; Receive, said he, Thy Pieties Reward; and from the Tree The stroke converting, lops his Head; then strake The Oak again; from whence a Voyce thus spake: A Nymph am I, within this Tree inshrin'd, Belov'd of Ceres, O prophane of mind, Vengeance is near thee: With my parting breath, I Prophecy, a Comfort to my Death. He still his guilt pursues; who over-throws With Cables, and innumerable blows The sturdy Oak; which nodding, long, down rush'd, And in his lofty fall his fellows crush'd. Sandys.

But a sad Revenge follows it, as the Poet will tell you; and one might fill a just Volume with the Histories of Groves that were vi∣olated by wicked Men, who came to fatal periods.

It is reported that the Minturensian Grove was esteem'd so ve∣nerable, that a stranger might not be admitted into it; and the great Xerxes himself when he passed through Achaia, would not touch a Grove which was dedicated to Jupiter, Command∣ing his Army to do it no Violence, and the honours he did to one single (but a goodly) Platanus we have already mention'd. The like to this we find when the Persians were put to flight by Pausa∣nias; though they might have sav'd their lives by it, as appears

in the Story. The same reverence made that Hercules would not so much as tast the Waters of the Aegerian Groves after he slew Cacus, though extreamly thirsty.

— The Priestesse se'd (A purple Fillet binding her gray head) Stranger, pry not, but quit this shady Seat, Avant, and whiles thou safely may, Retreat, To men forbid, and by hard Sanction bound▪ Far better other Springs were by you found.

Punicco canas stamine vincta comas, Parce oculis hospes, Lucôque abscede verend•• Cede agedum, & tuta limina linque fuga, Interdicta viris, metuenda lege piatur Di tibi dent alios fontes— Propert. l. 4.

Nor indeed in such places was it lawful to Hunt, unlesse it were to kill for Sacrifice, as we read in Arrianus; whence 'tis reported by Strabo, that in the Aetolian Groves Sacred to Diana, the Beasts were so tame, that the very Wolves and Staggs fed together like Lambs, and would follow a man licking his hands, and fauning on him. Such a Grove was the Crotonian, in which Livy writes, there was a spacious Field stor'd with all sorts of Game. There were many Forests consecrated to Jupiter, Juno, and Apollo; especially the famous Epidaphnes near the Syrian Antioch, which vvas most in∣comparably pleasant, adorn'd vvith Fountains and rare Statues. There vvas to be seen the Laurel vvhich had been his chast Mistris, and in the Center of it his Temple and Asylum: Here it vvas Cos∣roes and Julian did Sacrifice upon several occasions as Eusebius re∣lates, but could not vvith all their impious Arts obtain an An∣swer; because the holy Babylas had been interr'd near that Oracle, for vvhich it vvas reputed so venerable, that there remained an expresse Title in the Code de Cupressis ex Luco Daphnes non exciden∣dis, vel venundandis, that none should either fell, or sell any of the Trees about it, which may serve for another Instance of their Burying in such places. The truth is, so exceedingly Superstiti∣ous they were and tender, that there was almost no medling with these devoted Trees, and even before they did but conlucare and prune one of them, they were first to Sacrifice, least they might offend in something ignorantly: But to Cut down was Capital, and never to be done away with any Offering whatsoever; and therefore Conlucare in Authours is not (as some pretend) Succide∣re, but to prune the Branches onely, and yet even this gentle ton∣sure of superfluities was reputed a kind of Contamination; and hence Lucus cöinquinari dicitur, unlesse in the case of Lightning when Caelo tacti, a whole Tree might quite be fell'd,* 1.10 as mark'd by Heaven for the Fire. But of this sufficient: We could indeed fill many sheets with the Catastrophe of such as maliciously destroy'd Groves to feed either their revenge or avarice: See Plutarch in Pericles, and the saying of Pompeius: Cicero sharply reproves G. Gabinius for his prodigious spoil in Greece, and it was of late dayes held a piece of Inhumanity in Charles the French King, when he entred the Frisons after he had slain their Leader, to cut down their Woods, a punishment never inflicted by sober Princes but to prevent Idolatry in the Old Law; and to shew the heinous∣nesse

of disloyalty and Treason by latter Sanctions, in which case, and for Terror, even a Traitors Woods have become Anathema, as were easie to instance out of Histories.

16. But what shall we say then of our late prodigious Spoilers, whose furious devastation of so many goodly Woods and Forests, have bequeath'd an Infamy on their Names and Memories not quickly to be forgotten! I mean our unhappy Ʋsurpers, and injuri∣ous Sequestrators; not here to mention the deplorable necessities of a Gallant and Loyal Gentry, who for their Compositions were (many of them) compell'd to add yet to this Wast, by an inhumane and unparallel'd Tyrannie over them, to preserve the poor re∣mainder of their Fortunes, and to find them Bread.

Nor was it here they desisted, when, after the Fate of that once beautiful Grove under Greenwich-Castle, the Royal Walk of Elms in St. James's Park.

That living Galery of aged Trees,

was once propos'd to the late Council of State (as they call'd it) to be cut down and sold, that with the rest of his Majesties Houses already demolished, and mark'd out for Destruction, his Trees might likewise undergo the same destiny, and no footsteps of Mo∣narchy remain unviolated.

17. It is from hence you may calculate what were the designs of those excellent Reformers, and the care these great States-men took for the preservation of their Country, when being Parties in the Booty themselves, they gave way to so dishonourable and impoli∣tic a Wast of that Material, which being left intire, or husbanded with discretion, had prov'd the best support and defence of it. But this (say they) was the Effect of War, and in the height of our Contentions. No, it was a late and cold deliberation, and long af∣ter all had been subdu'd to them; nor could the most implacable of Enemies have express'd a Resolution more barbarous.

We have spoken of the great Xerxes, that passing Conquerour through Achaia, he would not suffer his Army to violate so much as a Tree of his Adversaries; and have sufficiently observed from the Antients, that the Gods did never permit them to escape unpu∣nish'd who were injurious to Groves. What became of Agamem∣non's Host after his Spoyl of the Woods at Aulis? Histories tell us Cleomenes died mad: The Temesaean Genius became prover∣bial; and the destructive fact that the inraged Caesar perpetrated on the Massilian Trees, went not long unreveng'd, thus related by the Poet, and an illustrious Record of all we have hitherto pro∣duc'd, to assert their Veneration.

Lucus erat longo nunquam violatus ab aevo, &c.

Lucan. l. 3.

A Wood untouch'd of old was growing there Of thick-set Trees, whose boughs spreading and fair Meeting, obscured the inclosed Air,

And made dark shades exiling Phoebus Rayes: There no rude Fawn, nor wanton Sylvan playes; No Nymph disports, but cruel Deities Claim barbarous Rites, and bloody Sacrifice: Each Tree defil'd with humane blood; if we Believe Traditions of Antiquity: No Bird dares light upon those hollowed boughs, No Beasts make there their dens; no wind there blows; No lightning falls: a sad religious awe, The quiet Trees unstirr'd by wind do draw. Black water Currents from dark Fountains flow: The Gods unpolish'd Images do know No art, but plain, and formlesse trunks they are. Their mosse and mouldinesse procures a fear: The common figures of known Deities Are not so fear'd: not knowing what God 'tis, Makes him more awfull: by relation The shaken Earths dark caverns oft did grone: Fall'n Yew-trees often of themselves would rise: With seeming fire oft flam'd th'unburned Trees: And winding dragons the cold Oaks embrace, None give neer worship to that baleful place; The People leave it to the Gods alone. When black night reigns, or Phoebus gilds the Noon, The Priest himself trembles, afraid to spy In th'awful Woods its Guardian-Deity.

But now Erisichthon-like, and like him in Punishment; for his was Hunger, Caesars Thirst, and thirst of Humane Blood, re∣veng'd soon after in his Own.

The Wood he bids them fell, not standing far From all their Work: untoucht in former War, Among the other bared Hills it stands Of a thick growth; the Souldiers valiant hands Trembled to strike, mov'd with the Majestie, And think the Ax from off the Sacred Tree Rebounding back, would their own bodies wound: Th' amazement of his Men when Caesar found; In his bold hand himself an Hatchet took, And first of all assaults a lofty Oak, And having wounded the Religious Tree, Let no man fear to fell this Wood (quoth he) The guilt of this Offence let Caesar bear. &c. May

and so he did soon after, carrying to the Grave ('tis thought) the Maledictions of the incensed Gauls to his Funeral-pile,

—For who The Gods thus injur'd, unreveng'd does go?

— Quis enim laesos impunè putar•••• Esse Deos—

18. But least this be charg'd with Superstition, because the Instances are Heathen: It was a more noble and remarkable, as well as recent Example, when at the Siege of Breda, the late Fa∣mous General Spinola Commanded his Army not to violate a Tree of a certain Wood belonging to the Prince of Orange there, though a reputed Traytor, and in open defiance with his Master. In sum, we read, that when Mithridates but deliberated about the cut∣ting down of some stately Trees which grew near Patara, a City of Lycia, though necessitated to it for the building of Warlike Engines with them, being terrifi'd in a Vision, he desisted from his purpose. It were to be wish'd these, or the like Examples, might have wrought some Effects upon the Sacrilegious Purchasers, and disloyal Invaders in this Iron-Age amongst us, who have lately made so prodigious a spoyl of those goodly Forests, Woods, and Trees (to gratifie an impious and unworthy Avarice) which be∣ing once the Treasure and Ornament of this Nation, were doubt∣lesse reserved by our more prudent Ancestors for the repairs of our floating Castles, the safeguard and boast of this renowned I∣sland, when Necessity, or some imminent Peril should threaten it, or call for their Assistance; and not to be devoured by these im∣provident Wretches, who, to their eternal Reproach, did (with the Royal Patrimony) swallow likewise Gods own Inheritance;* 1.11 but whose Sons and Nephews we have liv'd to see hastily disgorge them again; and with it all the rest of their Holy Purchases, which otherwise they might securely have enjoy'd. But this, in terro∣rem onely,* 1.12 and for Caution to Posterity, whiles we leave the Guil∣ty, and those who have done the Mischiefs, to their proper Scorpions, and to their Erisichthonian-fate, or that of the inexora∣ble Paraebius, the vengeance of the Dryads, and to their Tutelar better Genius, if any yet remain, who love the solid Honour and Ornament of their Countrey: For what could I say lesse, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, and * 1.13 Wood-born as I am, in behalf of those Sacred Shades, which both grace our Habitations, and Protect our Nation?

19. But I acknowledge how easie it is to be lost in this Wood, and that I have hardly power to take off my Pen whilst I am on this delightful Subject: For what more august, more charming and useful, than the culture and preservation of such goodly Plan∣tations.

That shade to our Grand-Children give. —Seris factura nepotibus umbram.

and afford so sweet, and so agreeable refreshment to our Industri∣ous Wood-man.

When He, his wearied Limbs had laid, Under a florid Plataus Shade.

Cùm post labores sub Platano cubat Virentis umbrae — Claud.

Or some other goodly spreading Trees, such as we told you stopt the Legions of a proud Conquerour, and that the wise Socrates sware by: That Passenius Crispus did Sacrifice to, and the honours of his Gods.

20. But, whilst we condemn this Excesse in them; Christians, and true Philosophers may be instructed to make use of these En∣joyments to better purposes, by contemplating the Miracles of their Production and structure: And what Mortal is there so per∣fect an Atomist, who will undertake to detect the thousandth part, or poynt of so exile a Grain; as that insensible rudiment, or rather halituous spirit, which brings forth the lofty Firr-Tree, and the spreading Oake? That Trees of so enormous an height and mag∣nitude, as we find some Elmes, Planes, and Cypresses; some hard as Iron, and solid as Marble (for such the Indies furnish many) should be swadl'd and involv'd within so small a dimension (if a poynt may be said to have any) without the least luxation, confu∣sion or disorder of Parts, and in so weak and feeble a substance; being at first but a kind of tender mucilage, or rather rotteness, which so easily dissolves and corrupts Substances so much harder, when they are buried in the moist Womb of the Earth, whilst this tender, and flexible as it is, shall be able in time to displace and rent in sunder whole Rocks of stones, and sometimes to cleave them beyond the force of Iron Wedges, so as even to remove Mountains? For thus no Weights are observ'd able to suppress the victorious Palm; And thus, our Tree (like Man whose inverted Symbol he is) being sown in corruption, rises in glory, by little and little ascending into an hard erect Stem of comely dimensions, into a solid Tower as it were; and that which but lately a single Ant, would easily have born to his little Cavern, now capable of resist∣ing the fury, and braving the Rage of the most impetuous storms, Magni mehercle artificis,* 1.14 clausisse totum in tam exiguo (to use Sene∣ca's expression) & horror est consideranti.

21. Contemplate we again, What it is which begins this motion or flame, causing it first to radiate in the Earth, and then to display its Top in the Ayre, so different Poles (as I may call them) in such dif∣ferent Mediums? How it elects, and then intro-sumes its proper food, and gives suck, as it were, to its yet tender Infant, till it have strength and force to prey on, and digest the more solid Juices of the Earth; for then, and not 'till then, do the Roots begin to har∣den: Consider how it assimilates, separates, and distributes these several supplies; how it concocts, transmutes, augments, produces and nourishes without separation of Excrements (at least to us visible) and generates its like, without violation of Virginity: By what exquisite percolations, and fermentations it proceeds; for the Heart, Fibers, Veins, Rind, Branches, Leaves, Blossoms, Fruit; for the strength, Colour, Tast, Odour and other stupendious Qualities, and distinct Faculties, some of them so repugnant and contrary to others; yet in so uniform, and successive a Series, and all this perform'd in the dark, and those secret Recesses of Nature. Quid

Foliorum describam diversitates? What shall we say of the Myste∣rious forms, variety, and variegation of the Leaves and Flowers, contriv'd with such Art, yet without Art; some round, others long, Oval, Multangular, indented, crisped, rough, smooth and polished, soft and flexible at every tremulous blast, as if it would drop in a moment, and yet so obstinately adhering, as to be able to contest against the fiercest Winds, that prostrate mighty Structures, rai∣sing Hurrocanes, the violence whereof whole Fleets and Countries do often feel; yet I say, continually making War, and sometimes joyning Forces with steeming showers, against the poor Leaf, tyed on by a slender stalk; there it abides 'till God bids it fall: For so the wise Disposer of Things has plac't it, not only for Ornament, but use and protection both of Body and Fruit, from the excessive heat of Summer, and colds even of the sharpest Winters, and their im∣mediate impressions; as we find it in all such Places and Trees, as like the blessed and good man, have alwayes Fruit upon them, ripe, or preparing to mature; such as the Pine, Fir, Arbutus, Orange and most of those which the Indies and more Southern Tracts plentifully abound in; where Nature provides this continual shel∣ter, and clothes them with perennial Garments.

22. Let us again examine with what care the Seeds, those little Souls of Plants, Quorum exilitas (as one sayes) vix locum inveniat (in which the whole and compleat Tree; though invisible to our dull sense, is yet perfectly and intirely wrapp'd up) are preserv'd from avolation, diminution and detriment; expos'd, as they seem to be, to all those accidents of Weather, storms and rapacious Birds, in their spinic, arm'd and compacted Receptacles; where they sleep as in their Causes, 'till their Prisons let them gently fall into the embraces of the Earth, now made pregnant with the Season, and ready for another Burthen: For at the time of Year she fails not to bring them forth; and with what delight have I beheld this tender and innumerable Off-spring repullulating at the Feet of an aged Tree! from whence the Suckers are drawn, transplanted and educated by humane Industry; and forgetting the ferity of their Nature, become civiliz'd to all his Employments.

23. Can we look on the prodigious quantity of Liquor, which one poor wounded Birch will produce in a few hours, and not be astonish'd how some Trees should in so short a space, Weep more than they weigh? and that so dry, so feeble and wretched a branch as that which bears the Grape, should yield a Juice that Cheers both God and Man? That the Pine, Fir, Larch, and other Resinous Trees, Planted in such rude, and uncultivated places, amongst Rocks and dry Pumices, should transude into Terpentine, and pearl out into Gums, and pretious Balms?

24. There are ten Thousand Considerations more, besides that of their Medicinal and Sanative properties, and the Mechanical Ʋses mention'd in this Treatise, which a Contemplative Person may derive from the Groves and the Woods; all of them the Subject of Wonder; And though he had onely the Palm or the Cocco, which

furnishes a great Part of the World with all that even a Voluptuous Man can need, or almost desire, it were sufficient to employ his Meditations and his Hands, as long as he had to live, though his years were as many as the most aged Oak: But a Wise, and a Thinking Man can need none of these Topics, in every Hedge, and every Field they are before him; and yet we do not admire them, because they are Common, and obvious: Thus we fall into the just reproach given by one of the Philosophers (introduc'd by the Oratour) to those who slighted what they saw every-day,* 1.15 because they every-day saw them; Quasi Novitas nos magis quàm magnitudo rerum, debeat ad exquirendas causas excitare: As if Novelty onely should be of more force to ingage our enquiry into the Causes of Things, than the Worth and Magnitude of the Things themselves.

Resonate montes Laudationem, SYLVA,* 1.16 Et omne Lignum ejus.

FINIS.

Notes

• * 1.1

  In opere Pas••bali.
• * 1.2

  See S. Hier. in Trad. Heb. 3 Reg. c. 4.
• * 1.3

  Vide Annium viterb. l. 17. fol. 158.
• * 1.4

  ad Mart.
• * 1.5

  l. 10.
• * 1.6

  Poetices l. 1.••. 21.
• * 1.7

  L. 16. c. 44. Arist. l. Ep. 10.
• * 1.8

  Vide Sym∣mach. l. 4. Ep. 28.
• * 1.9

  In Phoe. & Arcad.
• * 1.10

  Salmut. exer▪ Plin. Sol••••.
• * 1.11

  Quae tibi fa∣ctorum poenas instare tuorum Vaticinor —
• * 1.12

  Vide Met. l. 8. Apollon. l. 2. Argonaut. Prosternit quercum fun••∣stam quam fibi Nympha pigno∣ribúsque suis fecit—
• * 1.13

  At Wooton in Surrey: For so in all ages from Trees have been denominated whole Countreys, Regions, Cities and Towns; as Cyparissa in Greece, Cerasus in Pontus, Laurentum in Italy, Myrrhinûs in Attica. Ports, Mountains and eminent Places; as the Viminalis, Aesculetum, &c. The reason is obvious, from the spontaneous growth and abounding of such Trees in the respective Soyles.
• * 1.14

  Epist. 53
• * 1.15

  Cic. d•• Nat. Deor. L. 2.
• * 1.16

  Isa. 44.23.