OCR Text |
Show A Difcourfe of Fore{t-Trees. Chap.XXXV. nefle of difloyalty and Treaox by latter Santtions, in which cafe, and for Terror, even Traitors Woods have become Anathema, as were eafie to inftance out of Hiftories, - 16. But what fhall we fay then of our late prodigious Spoilers, whofe furious devaftation of fo many goodly Woods and Forefts , have bequeath'd an Infamy on their Names and Memories not quicklyto be forgotten! mean our unhappy Ufurpers,and eae ous Sequeftrators ; not here to mention the deplorable neceflities of aGallant and Loyal Ge#try, who for their Compofitions were (manyof them)compell'd to add yet to this #a/,by an inhumane and unparalleld Tyrannie over them, to preferve the poor remainder of their Fortunes, and to find them Bread. Nor was it here they defilted , when, after the Fate of that once beautiful Grove under Greenwich-Caftle., the Royal Walk of Elms inSt. Fames’s Park, That living Galery of aged Trees, tt was once proposd tothe late Council of State (asthey call’dit) to be cut down and fold, that with the reft ofhis Majefties Houfes already demolifhed, and mark'd out for Deftruction, his Trees might likewife undergo the fame deftiny, and no footfteps of Ate narchy remain unviolated, 17. It is from hence you maycalculate what were the defigus of thofe excellent Reformers,and the care thefe great Statefmentook for the prefervation of their Country, when being Parties in the Booty themfelves,they gave way to to difhonourable and impolitic a Waft of that Material, which being left intire, or husbanded with difcretion,had prov’d the beft {upport and defence of it.But this ( fay they ) wasthe Effe& of war, and inthe height of our Contentions. No, it was a late and cold deliberation, and long after all had been fubdu'd to them ; nor could the moft implacable of Exemies have exprefs'd a Refolution more barbarous. We have fpoken ofthe great Xerxes, that pafling Conquerour through Achaia, he would not fuffer his Army to violate fo much aga Tree of his Adverfaries; and have fuficiently obferved fromthe Antients, that the Gods did never permit them to efcape unpunifh'd who were injurious to Groves. What became of Agamemnon's Holt after his Spoyl of the Woods at Aulis 2 Hiftories tell us Cleomenes died mad : The Temelean Genius became prover- bial; and the deftruétive fact that the inraged Cefar perpetrated onthe Avafilian Trees, went not long unreveng'd, thw related bythe Poet, andan illuftrious Record ofall we have hitherto pro- duc’d, to affert their Veneration. Lucws erat longo nunquamviolatus ab £0,0C. A Wooduntouch’dof old was growing there Lucan./.3, Ofthick-fet Trees, whofe boughs {preading and fair Meeting, cbicuredthe inclofed Air, Chap. XXXV, A Difcourfe of Forett-Trees; And made dark fhades exiling Phe There no rude Fawn, nor wan bus Rayes : ton Sylvan playess No Nymph difports, but cruel Deit Claim barbarous Rites, and blo ies ody Each Tree defil’d with humane blo Sacrifice : od Believe. Traditions of Antiquity ; ; if we No Bird dareslight upon thofe hollowed boughs , No Beafts make there their dens; No lightning falls - a fad religiou nowind there blows: s awe, : The quiet Trees unftirr’d by wind do draw. Black water Currents from dark Foun The Gods unpolith’d Images do knotains flow : w Noart, but plain, and formleff e trunks theyare, Their moffé and mouldinefte procuresa The commonfigures of known Deities fear : Are not fo fear’d: not knowing what God ’tis 3 Makes him more awfull : by relation The fhaken Earths dark caverns oft did gro Fall'n Yew-trees often of themfelves wou he : ld rife: With feemingfire oft flam’d th’unburn ed Trees: And winding dragons the cold Oaks embrac : None give neer worthip to that baleful place es The People leave it to the Gods alone, Whenblack night reigns, or Phebus gilds the Noon, The Prieft himfelf trembles » afraid to {py Yn th’awful Woods its Guardian-Deity. But now Erif ichthon-like, and like him in Punifhment; for his was Hunger , Ce/ars Thirft, and thirft of Humane Blood, reveng’d foonafte in r his Own. The Wood he bids them fell, not ftandingfar From all their Work: untouchti form n er War, Amongthe other bared Hills it ftands Ofa thick growth the Souldiers vali ant hands Trembledto ftrike, mov'd withthe Majeftie , Andthink the Ax fromoff the Sacred Tre e Rebounding back, would their own bodies wou nd Z Th’ amazement of his Men when Cafar fou nd Inhis bold hand himfelf an Hatchet took, And firft of all aflaultsa lofty Ouk, And having wounded the Religious Tree, Let no manfear to fell this Wood ( quoth he ) Theguile of this Offence Jet Céfa rbear. ve, May, and {o hedid foonafter, carrying to the Grave Maledidicns of the incenfed Gau/sto his Fune (tis thought) the ral pile, ——-For who The Gods thus injur’d, unreveng’d does 20? —— Duis enim lalas impun’ Eft Dis. r3, But rane putared |