N° 589. Friday, September 3, 1714. Perfequitur feclus ille fuum: labefactaque tandem Corruit OVID. Met. viii. 774. "The impious axe he plies; loud ftrokes refound; ""Till dragg'd with ropes, and fell'd with many "a wound, "The loosen'd tree comes rufhing to the ground." • SIR, AM so great an admirer of trees, that the fpot of ground I have chofen to build a fmall feat upon in the country is almost in the midst of a large wood. I was obliged, 'much against my will, to cut down feveral trees, that I might have any fuch thing as a walk in my gardens; but then I have taken care to leave the space, between every walk, as much a wood as I found it. The moment you turn either to the right or left you are in a foreft, where nature prefents you with 6 a much more beautiful scene than could have ⚫ been raised by art. 6 Inftead of tulips or carnations I can fhew you oaks in my gardens of four hundred years standing, and a knot of elms that might thelter a troop of horse from the rain. ing Minifter, who kept an academy at Taunton in Somerfet hire. See SPECT. No. 601, No. 626, and No. 635; and an account of him prefixed to his Works, by Dr. THOMAS AMORY, who was a kin to him in every refpect, and tutor in his uncle's academy. N 2 • It It is not without the utmost indignation • that I obferve feveral prodigal young heirs in the neighbourhood felling down the most glorious monuments of their ancestors induftry, and ruining, in a day, the product • of ages. I am mightily pleased with your difcourfe upon planting, which put me upon looking into my books, to give you fome account of the veneration the ancients had for trees. There is an old tradition, that Abraham planted a cyprefs, a pine, and a cedar; and that these three incorporated into one tree, which was cut down for the building of the temple of Solomon. Ifidorus, who lived in the reign of Conftantius, affures us, that he faw even in his • time that famous oak in the plains of Mamre, under which Abraham is reported to have dwelt; and adds, that the people looked upon it with a great veneration, and preferved it as 6 a facred tree. The heathens ftill went farther, and regarded it as the highest piece of facrilege to injure certain trees which they took to be protected by fome deity. The ftory of Erificthon, the grove at Dodona, and that at Delphi, are all inftances of this kind. If we confider the machine in Virgil, fo much blamed by feveral critics, in this light, we fhall hardly think it too violent. Æneas, when he built his fleet in order to fail for Italy, was obliged to cut down the 6 grove grove on Mount Ida, which however he durft not do until he had obtained leave from Cybele, to whom it was dedicated. The goddefs could not but think herself obliged to protect thefe fhips, which were made of confccrated timber, after a very extraordinary manner, and therefore defired Jupiter, that they might not be obnoxious to the power of waves or winds. Jupiter would not grant this, but promifed her, that as many as came fafe to Italy fhould be transformed into goddeffes of the fea; which the poet tells us was accordingly executed. "And now at length the number'd hours were 66 come, "Prefix'd by Fate's irrevocable doom, "When the great mother of the gods was free "To fave her fhips, and finifh'd Jove's decree. "First, from the quarter of the morn, there fprung "A light that fing'd the heavens, and fhot along: "Then from a cloud, fring'd round with golden "fires, "Were timbrels heard, and Berecynthian quires: "And last a voice, which more than imortal founds, "Both hofts in arms oppos'd, with equal horror "wounds. "O Trojan race, your needlefs aid forbear; "And know my fhips are my peculiar care. "With greater ease the bold Retulian may, "With hiffing brands, attempt to burn the fea, "Than finge my facred pines. But you, my "charge, "Loos'd from your crooked anchors, launch at 66 large, < 6 "Exalted each a nymph; forfake the fand, "And fwim the feas, at Cybele's command. "No fooner had the goddefs ceas'd to fpeak, "When lo, th' obedient fhips their haufers break; "And, ftrange to tell, like dolphins in the main, "They plunge their prows, and dive, and spring "again: "As many beauteous maids the billows fweep, "As rode before tall veffels on the deep." DRYDEN'S VIRG. • The common opinion concerning the nymphs, whom the ancients called Hamadryads, is more to the honour of trees than any thing yet mentioned. It was thought the fate of thefe nymphs had so near a dependence on fome trees, more especially oaks, that they lived and died together. For this reason they were extremely grateful to fuch perfons who preferved thofe trees with which their being fubfifted. Apollonius tells us a very remarkable story to this purpose, with which I fhall conclude my letter. A certain man, called Rhæcus, obferving an old oak ready to fall, and being moved with a fort of compaffion towards the tree, • ordered his fervants to pour in fresh earth at the roots of it, and fet it upright. The Hamadryad, or nymph, who must neceffarily have perished with the trees, appeared to him the next day, and, after having returned him. her thanks, told him fhe was ready to grant whatever he fhould afk. As fhe was extremely beautiful, Rhæcus defired he might be enter 6 tained as her lover. The Hamadryad, not • much difpleafed with the request, promised to give him a meeting, but commanded him ' for fome days to abstain from the embraces of ' all other women, adding, that she would fend a bee to him, to let him know when he was to be happy. Rhacus was, it seems, too much addicted to gaming, and happened to be in a run of ill-luck when the faithful bee came buzzing about him; fo that, instead of minding his kind invitation, he had like to • have killed him for his pains. The Hamadryad was fo provoked at her own difappointment, and the ill ufage of her meflenger, that the deprived Rhæcus of the ufe of his limbs. However, fays the ftory, he was not fo much a cripple, but he made a fhift to cut down the tree, and confequently to fell his mistress.' 6 6 6 N° 590. Monday, September 6, 1714. Affiduo labuntur tempora motu Non fecus ac flumen. Neque enim confiftere flumen, "E'en times are in perpetual flux, and run, N 4 "And |