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are synonymous-and the effect ought to be the same, notwithstanding any difference of mode, to the reception of the dead, where their remains may quietly and securely rest, the associations of trees and flowers are especially interesting. Nor, in the wide regions of creation, can we find any fitting substitute for them.

The author of the "Sylva" remarks, in his peculiar and original style," that the most ancient conditoria and burying-places were in such nemorous solitudes. The cave in Machpelah, purchased by the patriarch Abraham for Sarah, his own dormitory and family sepulchre, was conveyed to him with particular mention of all the trees and groves about it; and this is the very first precedent," he says, "I can read of conveying a purchase by a formal deed. Our blessed Saviour chose the garden-some times for his oratory-and, dying, for the place of his sepulchre; and we do avouch, for many weighty causes, that there are no places more fit to bury our dead in, than our gardens and groves, or any fields sub dio, where our beds may be decked and carpeted with verdant and fragrant flowers, trees, and perennial plants— the most natural and instructive hieroglyphics of our expected resurrection and immortality."

No true lover of nature needs to be reminded of the pleasure which the mind receives in the contemplation of trees, remarkable either for size or longevity—those silent, yet eloquent historians of the passing generations of the human race, whom they will, in the fulness of their own time, also follow. "The groves were God's

first temples;" and to the seclusion and retirement of the woods all ages have stood indebted for their earliest and best-loved sanctuaries. We have shewn, that the early Christians, oppressed by Pagan tyranny, resorted to them for the performance of the services of their holy religion, and of their burial rites; and we need not travel out of the almost recent pages of British history to find ample records of the succour which they have afforded to those who were not allowed to worship their Creator in the way which conscience and divine revelation informed them was right.

Every man who has the opportunity of planting a tree, and avails himself not of it, waives the privilege which is thus given him of benefiting posterity. While men sleep, trees grow; and, after adding, during their growth, to the beauty of the landscape, providing shade and shelter for cattle, and ameliorating the climate and soil of their location, are year by year improving, at more than compound interest, the value of their original cost, the labour of their planting, their occupation of soil-and, at their maturity, will return both principal and interest into the pockets of the planter's children or grand-children, increased almost a hundredfold. Judicious planting, and the cultivation of the various timber and forest trees, belong to the first branch of useful statistics. The government or the nation which neglects these acts, loses one of its strong holds in times of oppression and defeat; and at the same time weakens its powers by omitting to provide the

strongest arm of offensive or defensive warfare. It is to be hoped, however, that on such considerations it may not be necessary much longer to reflect, but, that the elevating, yet subduing pleasure of woodland occupations may be sought after and encouraged, as a means of increasing the bounties of providence and the happiness of mankind. England's conquests have not been purchased without expense; nor were

"The sapling oaks which, at Britannia's call,

Should heave their trunks mature into the main,
And float the bulwarks of her liberty,"

planted to be nothing more than the all but eternal ornaments of our country; the best of them have fallen under the strong arm of the woodman, and are probably decaying in distant lands, or amongst the ever-to-be-hidden "treasures of the deep." The few that are left, stand hoary, but splendid, memorials of the grandeur of their contemporaries and of themselves.

Henceforth may they float not only bulwarks of England's liberties, but to convey to distant and yet unknown lands the benefits of her religion, her language, and her commerce. When swords shall be turned into ploughshares and spears into pruning-hooks, " Men of war," shall become "messengers of peace," and the booming battle-gun be the proclaimer of national friendships and alliances.

Auxiliary to these extensive benefits, and as a means of promoting them, is the facility which the man of science and research in the

study of natural history receives from the opportunity of examining various specimens. It is not in the power of many private individuals, who may nevertheless possess the laudable wish to do so, to form any very large or complete collection of foreign trees and shrubs. Much discrimination is necessary in selecting; a better soil than is usually or can very profitably be devoted to planting purposes is required to receive them; and a complete arboretum of foreign and domestic trees, excepting in the neighbourhood of London, or the larger seaports, could not be formed, without a large expenditure in the item of carriage only.

Abney Park possesses every qualification which can possibly be required for encouraging the growth of trees. Its virgin soil is of the finest character, and there are sufficient varieties of sand, clay, and loam, intermixed, to enable the planter to adapt his specimens accordingly.

The only hardy exotics which require the introduction of a foreign soil, are the choice flowering American shrubs; more particularly the rhododendron and magnolia tribes.

The arboretum contains about 2500 varieties, independently of those planted in the rosarium; and the whole forms a collection of hardy ligneous plants, both indigenous and exotic, which no other English cemetery, and few private grounds possess.

I have considered it better that the description of the trees and plants of which this arboretum is composed should appear in the form of

a catalogue alphabetically arranged according to their genera-the species and such varieties as may belong to them being specified under each genus. For the information of the student the natural order of each, and also the nomenclature adopted by Linnæus, will be specified.

The limits of this work will not allow of such a technical description as would interest the scientific, or of such a popular account as would be more attractive to the general reader. It must, therefore, be my limited purpose to furnish such brief statements, in connexion with each genus, as may suffice to exhibit the attractions of the whole, and to induce those who may be devoting their first or early attentions to the most interesting science of natural history to pursue their studies. They will be most materially assisted by the specimens which they may examine in the grounds of the cemetery.

As it is not inappropriate to the scenery and character of Abney Park-and is in accordance with the general subject now under notice-I shall here introduce Bryant's "Forest Hymn."

FOREST HYMN.

The groves were God's first temples. learned

Ere man

To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave
And spread the roof above them-ere he framed
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back

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