We

industry of collecting, and in the judicious arrangement and disposition of the different branches of his subject. His book is indeed a κτýμov és ǎe: a most valuable repository, which never can be superseded, and which is richly deserving the highest public encouragement. It has been to him truly a "labour of love," pursued with a zeal and energy which may be said to have ensured its excellence. have consulted it repeatedly and carefully, and always came away, like the bee, “apis matinæ more,” laden with the honey of our research. But here we are obliged to close our language of praise; nor can we extend, like the Professor, our commendation from the author to his critic and commentator. We allude, Mr. Urban, to the article in the last Quarterly Review (No. LXXIV. Art. ii.) of which the Arboretum forms the subject: yet there is a value attached to it, which may be estimated by those industrious and enlightened gentlemen who live by the weekly and monthly profits of their pen, viz. because it exhibits, most clearly and satisfactorily, how a reviewer can discuss the merits of a work without any further knowledge of his subject than what he derives from the work itself. We have heard this article attributed to one of the leading hands of the Review: but we cannot believe that anything so utterly superficial, flimsy, and barren of all information, could come from one of the leaders of the learned phalanx, Bovλnpopov avopa. Whoever he is, we advise Mr. Murray for the future to select some other writer on Dendrology; and we now proceed to point out a few of those blunders and mistakes which he is sure to make whenever he is rash enough to drop Mr. Loudon's hand, and attempt to guide himself through the "Caligantem nigrâ formidine lucum."

1. "The trees which produce those lovely tints of scarlet and gold of which travellers tell us, are all to be obtained at moderate cost in every nursery; and that they will thrive perfectly in this country, Fonthill and White Knights bear ample testimony." What trees does the Reviewer allude to?-We presume, to the American oaks and maples. Does he mean that all the American oaks are to be procured at every nursery? If so, he

is in egregious error. Or at some nurseries? Even then he is wrong. There are very few American oaks that can be perfectly naturalised to the climate of England: the few that are, scarcely outlive a century; as may be seen by the decaying specimens at Pains Hill and Parson's Cross: the most desirable are the Quercus rubra, Quercus tinctoria, Q. aquatica, Q. phellos. The best collection in England is at Henham, the seat of the Earl of Stradbroke. The late Earl bought every species and variety introduced by Mr. Lyons about twenty years since, that would bear the climate of our island, and they have now grown into handsome trees. The best specimen of the "Tinctoria" is at Cashiobury; of the "Phellos" at Parson's Cross and Pepperharrow. The "Rubra" and "Aquatica are too common to particularise. So far from every nursery having rich collections of American oaks, none but the commoner sorts are to be obtained; further, White Knights is not rich in its oaks; so that the Reviewer has crowded as much error into one short sentence, as it would well give room for.

2.

"The Abies of the Romans was the Silver Fir; and the Fagus the Sweet Chesnut.' We have very great doubts on the subject; and we may ask the Reviewer this question :If Fagus was the Sweet Chesnut, what was the Latin appellation of the Beech? The description which Pliny gives of the Fagus' agrees with the Beech and not with the Chesnut :-" Fagi glans nuclei similis, triangula cute includitur. Folium tenue ac levissimum, populo simile." But there is no doubt that the Latin Fagus is derived from the Greek pnyos. Now Eustathius (Il. 5.) says, onyos, dpûs λéyerai tapà тò payeîv. "The oak is called pnyòs, from the fruit being eaten ;" and the Glossæ give onyos, fagus, æsculus; and Pliny, in the following passage, seems to allude to the three different species of oaks,— the Esculus, the Ilex, and the Quercus. "Glans fayea suem hilarem facit; Ilignua suem angustam ; querna, diffusam." Ovid has in the Fasti, lib. iv. 656, "Bis sua faginia tempora fronde premit." Here the idea of chesnut-leaves must be excluded; and, probably, the poet alluded to the oaken wreath,

The subject is not without its difficulty; but we are inclined to think that the term 'fagus,' which is the Greek piyos, was used with considerable latitude of meaning, and included the beech, chesnut, and a species of oak -all of them bearing fruits. The word 'glans' was in a similar manner used, "sub suâ significatione, inquit Caius juriconsultus, omnes fructus continet;" but it had also a more confined and appropriate meaning when it designated the fruit of the Quercus, Robur, Esculus, Fagus, Cerrus, Ilex, and Suber. It also included "Fructus, Castanea Arboris." We have only further to observe, that Columella, speaking of the chesnut, uses the term Castanea,' lib. iv. c. 33. "Castanea Roboribus proxima est, et ideo stabiliendis vineis habilis." Upon the whole, then, we think that the term fagus, like glans, was sometimes used in an extensive signification, including the Chesnut, and Beech, and Oak, the 'Arbores glandiferæ;' but in its more limited sense it was the name of the Beech, as Castanea was of the Chesnut, and Robur of the Oak. But, as we said before, if the Reviewer means to exclude the Beech from coming under the term Fagus, it rests with him to point out to us what was its Latin appellation-and in this we cannot help him. The passage in Cæsar is perplexing; but it is not to be got over as the Reviewer attempts. The Beech is a short-lived tree, and it does not necessarily follow that Cæsar saw beeches in Kent two thousand years ago. He may have used the word 'fagus' as Theophrastus is supposed to do, for the Esculus,' that bears the sweet edible acorn, which oak we have not. Theophrastus says, yλukuKÓTATOS ὁκάρπος τῆς φηγοῦ; and we think it probable that Cæsar alluded neither to the Beech nor the Chesnut, but to the Esculus with its sweet edible acorns. 3. "We read (in Ireland) of Portugal Laurels from 30 to 40 feet high, while in English gardens they are seldom above 10 feet, nay, rarely attain even that height!" Proh pudor! Proh pudor! If the Reviewer will put himself into the stage-coach and visit the Portugal laurels at the priory of St. Osyth in Essex; those at the passage at Stutton, where is one, we believe, more than 300 feet round, and those at Hevening

ham Hall, Suffolk, he will find some equalling or excelling the specimens in Ireland; but, if he is a Cockney, we recommend him to one at the extremity of the new garden attached to Pope's Villa, by the late possessor at Twickenham.

4. 'Rhododendrons here seldom seen above five feet." These extraordinary assertions, made in such a dashing and peremptory manner, perfectly astonish us; is the Reviewer himself deceived, or is he laughing at his readers? Did he never hear of the Rhododendrons at Cuffnells? did he ever see that long and noble mass of them at Tottenham Park, in Wiltshire, above twelve feet high, and growing in the highest luxuriance? The fact is, that these plants delight in a soft, damp, moist atmosphere; and in our southwestern counties, from Hampshire to Cornwall, would, if properly cultivated, equal any that the similar climate of Ireland could produce. At Muswellhill there are some magnificent Rhododendrons growing in a strong tenacious clay.

5. A "Yucca in England is seldom above five feet high, and dies as soon as it has flowered!!!" Let not our readers give one grain of belief to this portentous, pudendous assertion. We have seen a Yucca in England (we believe Mr. Loudon has described one in his Gardener's Magazine) more than twice this height, and, moreover, the Yucca does not die after flowering. It is true that the Yucca filamentosa loses some of its leaves, but they soon spring out again; but the Yucca gloriosa, &c. flowers annually without impairing its strength, or shortening its

life.

6. "Tree Pæony in our gardens seldom run more than three or four feet high." We have two plants of this description in our garden, planted about fifteen years, both more than six feet high.

7. On the Caper, the author does not mention that this plant long grew beneath the garden-wall of what was a large ladies' boarding-school at Kensington; and if it is dead, it is but a short time since it was planted by a friend of old Bradley, the writer on gardening. The Caper is also grown in the Apothecaries Garden at Chelsea with a slight glass protection in winter.

8. Mr. Loudon is mistaken when he says, the term Locust-Tree, for the Pseudo-Acacia, was almost unknown in England, before Cobbet's time; the fact is, the tree is called the Locust and not the Acacia, by Bartram and all our old American travellers.

9. The Reviewer should have men. tioned, under the subject of the Ericacetum, that the park at Dropmore is sown with the Rhododendron, which is protected by the Fern in winter, and when that dies away in the spring, the plants spring up into sight covered with blossom; he is also wrong in saying that the "undergrowth of the woods at High Clerc is composed almost entirely of Rhododendrons and Azaleas" it is only in a confined space, round the margin of the lake. The plants at Ken-wood are not extensive; and the soil at the Duchess of Gloucester's, at Bagshot, is too light for these plants, which suffer there extremely in a hot summer. He should have mentioned the more favourable soil of the contiguous garden at Knap-hill.

10. "Lord Byron hits Mr. Bowles hard, by showing that Pope, disparaged by his editor as destitute of all real love of nature, gave the great blow to the formal school of gardening by a paper in the Guardian." This paper is No. 173, and its attack is directed against what is called the topiary work in gardens; cutting yew, box, and other flexible evergreens into grotesque shapes of animals, &c. but far from Pope having imbibed the true picturesque feeling in gardening, in the same paper he recommends Homer's "Garden of Alcinous" as the best model for imitation. As far as we recollect, what called out Mr. Bowles's animadversion on Pope's taste, was the poet's ambition of having some joints of the Giant's Causeway on his lawn, and two wooden swans, supported on wires, and appearing to be flying to the Thames. We think this might justly alarm any lover of the picturesque; however, to settle this controversy, we shall observe that a plan of Pope's garden was published by Serle, his gardener, and there his taste may be seen exemplified. The highest praise he ever received on this head was from Horace Walpole in a letter to Horace Mann, who speaks of

Pope's taste having, in a very confined space, formed "three of the most delicious little lawns that the eye of man ever rested on," or words (for we have not the book by us) to that effect. We have no hesitation in declaring it to be our opinion that Mr. Hamilton at Paine's-hill, and Mr. Southcote at Woburn farm, gave the first and earliest specimens of picturesque gardening. Compare Mr. Whately's description of Paine's-hill with Pope's paper in the Guardian, and the immense progress of the art in the space of 30 or 40 years will be distinctly seen, aud acknowledged.

11. "Very few instances exist in England of old white Mulberries, though it is only on the leaves of that species that the silk worm can be fed advantageously." The white Mulberry is too tender for the general climate of England, and soon begins to canker and get out of health. These trees are not much to be met with, except a few in Switzerland, north of Lyons; where the avenue commences from the gate leading to Chamberry, and after that, they are common; whether those planted by government a few years since, in the south of Ireland, have succeeded, we do not know.

12. The Reviewer, speaking of Pinetums, says "the first in every respect, unquestionably is that of Lady Grenville at Dropmore." We do not think so; we have before us a Catalogue of the Dropmore Pines, and those of Sir Charles Monck, at Belsey Castle, and we see little difference in the respective lists. If the Reviewer had said, "that Lady Grenville's collection was as copious as any, and had the advantage in point of age of all," he would have spoken with a precision more worthy of our attention.

13. Speaking of the severity of last winter, the Reviewer says, "large Arbutuses, twelve or fourteen feet high, were almost every where killed to the ground, and in many places entirely destroyed." This is rather a cockney view of the subject, and applies chiefly to the close sheltered gardens near London. We have above fifty of these plants scattered about our garden, not one of which was killed, and only a few injured; at White Knights, the more

tender" Arbutus Andrachne" was not in the least hurt. Many of the deciduous trees," he adds, "have sprung up from the roots, but the Sweet Bay appears to have been generally destroyed." To this we observe that every "Sweet Bay" in our garden that was killed to the ground, has shot up during the summer to the height of two feet or more; and that within a field or two of where we are now writing, stands a gigantic Bay (the sole remains of an old dismantled garden) more than a foot and a half in circumference, which stood the winter with hardly a soil on its green and beautiful foliage. All gardens in valleys, in low moist places, as on the banks of the Thames, suffered; while those, like Lord Shrewsbury's at Alton Towers, and Mr. Beckford's on Lansdown Hills, escaped; but to this general rule there were many exceptions.

14. "The Deodar Cedar, &c. appears to have borne the cold remarkably well." We doubt this, for, as far as we have seen them, they looked black, and suffered in their foliage; besides, a very fine thriving tree of this kind was entirely killed by the cold of last winter at Mr. Labouchere's near Chelmsford. The Stone Pines (Pinus Pinea) suffered extremely.

15. The Reviewer says, "that the Araucaria Imbricata or Chili Pine, at Dropmore, has been scarcely injured by the winter;" we thought otherwise; at any rate, we understood from the gardener, that, like the still finer specimen at Kew, it was always protected during the winter. We now must withdraw our hand, agreeing with the author of the article in the Quarterly, "that it is much to be lamented that travellers (lege reviewers) are so frequently ignorant of botany;" we have only to add, that at p. 352, there is a very flippant attack on a statement made by Mr. Jesse on Herne's Oak, which he has proved to be erroneous; we have great pleasure in closing our paper with that gentleman's statement.

Yours, &c. SYLVARUM AMATOR.

"Sir,-In the last number of the Quarterly Review there is an article on Mr. Loudon's Arboretum Britannicum,

in which a statement of mine respecting the identity of Herne's Oak is called in question. There are so many agreeable associations connected with this celebrated tree, and it is so mixed up with everything that makes Windsor interesting to its numerous visitors, that I feel I am doing a little public kindness in endeavouring to prove that one of the last of our Shakspearian relics may still be

seen.

Many, like myself, are fond of strolling along the Elizabethan walk of the Little Park on a fine summer's evening, while, perhaps, the last faint streaks of a setting sun are resting on the Castle towers, and glimmering amongst the branches of the fine avenues, indulging their imagination with the comic scenes of the Merry Wives, and resting with interest and complacency on the spot where they are supposed to have taken place. To those who partake of this enthusiasm the statement in the Quarterly Review, to which I have referred, would destroy much of the interest which attaches itself to Windsor, if it remained uncontradicted. I will now endeavour to prove that the statement in question is entirely erroneous, and that the admirers of Shakspeare may still see the tree which he has immortalized.

"In speaking of oaks, the Quarterly Reviewer remarks as follows:--' Among his anecdotes of celebrated English oaks, we were surprised to find Mr. Loudon adopting (at least so we understand him) an apocryphal story about Herne's Oak, given in the lively page of Mr. Jesse's Gleanings. That gentleman, if he had taken any trouble, might have ascertained that the tree in question was cut down one morning, by order of King George III., when in a state of great, but transient, excitement: the circumstance caused much regret and astonishment at the time, and was commented on in the newspapers. The oak which Mr. Jesse would decorate with Shaksperian honours stands at a considerable distance from the real Simon Pure.

Every old woman in Windsor knows all about the facts.'

"I do not intend to dwell on the spirit in which this passage was written, but will of contradiction, to say the least of it, proceed to facts.

"The story to which the Quarterly Reviewer refers, of a tree having been cut down by order of George III. 'when in a state of great, but transient excitement,' is well known, and was often repeated by his late Majesty George IV.; who, however, always added, 'that tree was supposed to have been Herne's Oak, but it was not.' There is no occasion to

go into the particulars of this story, as, luckily for my argument, the person is still alive who heard the order given by George III. to fell a tree in the Little Park, about which some angry words had passed with the Prince of Wales, and he assures me that the tree was an elm. I do not feel myself at liberty to mention his name, but he informs me that the tree stood near the Castle, that it was cut down early one morning, and he points out the spot where it grew. The whole character, however, of George III. would of itself be a sufficient guarantee that Herne's Oak was not cut down by his order. He always took a pride and pleasure in pointing it out to his attendants whenever he passed near it, and that tree was the one whose identity I am now advocating. It may also be doubted whether any monarch would venture to incur the odium and unpopularity of felling such a tree as Herne's Oak.

"Soon after the circumstance referred to took place, three large old oak trees were blown down in a gale of wind in the Little Park, and one of them was supposed by persons who probably took little trouble to inquire into the real facts of the case, to have been Herne's Oak. This windfall was cut up into small pieces and sold to carpenters and cabinet-makers in the neighbourhood, who found it very profitable in calling the articles they made a part of Herne's Oak, and disposing of them as Shaksperian reliquiæ. These circumstances combined might probably give rise to a report in the newspapers of the day that Herne's Oak was no longer in existence. It would, however, have been a kind act if the reviewer of the Quarterly had informed the public in what year and at what date the particulars he mentions are to be found in the newspapers he refers to.

"To set the matter at rest, however, I will now repeat the substance of some information given to me relative to Herne's Oak by Mr. Ingall, the present respecta ble bailiff and manager of Windsor Home Park. He states that he was appointed to that situation by George III. about 40 years ago. On receiving his appointment he was directed to attend upon the King at the Castle, and on arriving there he found his Majesty with the old Lord Winchelsea.' After a little delay, the King set off to walk in the park, attended by Lord Winchelsea, and Mr. Ingall was desired to follow them. Nothing was said to him until the King stopped opposite an oak tree. He then turned to Mr. Ingall and said, 'I brought you here to point out this tree to you. I commit it to your especial charge, and take care GENT. MAG. VOL. XI.

that no damage is ever done to it. I had rather that every tree in the Park should be cut down than that this tree should be hurt. This is Herne's Oak.' Mr. Ingall added, that this was the tree still standing near Queen Elizabeth's Walk, and is the same tree which I have mentioned and given a sketch of in my Gleanings in Natural History. Sapless and leafless it certainly is, and its rugged bark has all disappeared,

'Its boughs are moss'd with age, And high top bald with grey antiquity;' but there it stands, and long may it do so, an object of interest to every admirer of our immortal Bard. In this state it has been, probably, long before the recollection of the oldest person living. Its trunk appears, however, sound, like a piece of ship-timber, and it has always been protected by a strong fence round it-a proof of the care which has been taken of the tree, and of the interest which is attached to it.

"Having stated the above fact, I may add, that George III. was perfectly incapable of the duplicity of having pointed out a tree to Mr. Ingall as Herne's Oak, if he had previously ordered the real Herne's Oak, the Simon Pure,' to be cut down. I have also the authority of one of the members of the present Royal Family for stating, that George III. always mentioned the tree now standing as Herne's Oak.

King William III. was a great planter of avenues, and to him we are indebted for those in Hampton Court and Bushy Parks, and also those at Windsor. All these have been made in a straight line, with the exception of one in the Home Park, which diverges a little, so as to take in Herne's Oak as a part of the avenue-a proof, at least, that William III. preferred distorting his avenue to cutting down the tree in order to make way for it in a direct line, affording another instance of the care taken of this tree 150 years ago.

"I might multiply proofs as to the identity of this interesting tree, were it necessary to do so. The Reviewer of the Quarterly refers me to the old women of Windsor. I will only add, that had that gentleman taken the same trouble that I have done to ascertain from these descendants of Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page which they considered to be the real Herne's Oak, he would have been told that they had often danced round it in their younger days, had couched in the pit hard by,' and that it was still standing, although [white.' 'A harden'd stump, bleach'd to a snowy "I am, Sir, yours, &c. "EDWARD JESSE. "Hampton Court, Nov. 23, 1838." H