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Show A Difcourfe of Foreft-Trees. Chap.XXXV, Perfons found how naturally they difpofe our Spirits to Religious Contemplations : Forthis, as fome conceive, they muchafiected to Plant their Trees in Circles, and gave that capacious Formto the firlt Temples, , obferv'd not onely of old, but even at this day bythe Fews, as the moft accommodate for their Aflemblies 5 or, as others, becaufe that figure moft refembl'd the Uxiverfe, and the Heavens : Templum 2 Templando faysa knowing Critic, and another, Templum eft nefcio quid immane , atque amplum 3 fuch as Arnobins {peaks of, that had no Roof but Heaven, till that fumptuous Fabric of Solomon wasconfin’d to Ferufalem, and the goodli- eft Cedars, and moft coftly Woods were carried thither to form the Columns, and Jay the Rafters ; and them, and nottill then,was it fo much as Schifme that I can find, toretire to Groves for their Dewotion, or even to Bethelit felf. 4, In fuch Recefles were the antient Oratories and Profeuche built even amongft the Gextiles, as wellasthe People of God (nor is it alwaies the lefle authentical for having been the guife of Nations) hence that of Philo, {peaking of one who dca tsDalay weoceuyds edevd\eotbuucz, re, that had fell’d all the Trees about it ; and fuch a place the Satyrift means, where he asks , In qua te wero profeuchae becaufe it was the Rendezvous alfo, where poor Reosie us'd to frequent to beg the Alms of devout and Charitable Perfons ; and it was efteemed piacular for any to cut down fo much asa ftick about them, unlefle it were to build them, when with the Pfalmif?,men had bomour according to their forwardnefle of repairing the Hoxfes of Godin the Land , upon which accountit was lawful to liftup 4aes againft the goodlieft Trees in the Forefts but thofe zealous dayesare patt, Now Temples fhut, and Grovesdeferted ly, All Gold adore, and negleé&t Picty. Et nuuc defertis ceffant facraria Lacis Aurum omnes villi, jam Pietate colunt. Propert, 5, They came afterwards indeed to be abus’d to Superftition , but what good, or indifferent thing has not been fubject to peryerfion? Itisfaid in theend of Ifaiah, Exprobratur Hebreis quod in Opifthonais Idolorum borti effent in quorum medio februabantur5 but howthis is applicable to Groves does not appear fo fully; though we find them interditted, Dent, 16.21, Fudg.6.26, 2 Chron: 31.3. @c. and forbidden to be Planted neer the Temple 5 and an impure Grove on Mount Libanus dedicated to, Venus, was by anImperial Edi of Conflantine extirpated ; but from the abuje of the thing to the #on-we, the Confequence isnot alwayes valid, and we maynoteas to this very particular, that where in divers places of Holy Writ, the denuntiation again{t Groves is fo exprefs, it is frequently to be taken but catachrefficaly, from the Wooden Image or Statue call'd by that name, asour Learned Selden makes out by fundry Inftances in his Syxtagua de Dits Syris. The Summeofallis, Paradz/éit {elf was buta kind of Ne#o- rons Tewple orfacred Grove, Planted by God himfelf, and given to Chap. XXXV, A Difcourfe of Forett-Trees, to Man, tanqnam primo facerdoti , the Word is “ay whict perly fignifies to Serve or adminifter res divinas, a re ved fecrated for fober Difcipline , and to Cont emplatethefe ifr ous and Sacramental Trees which their hands; and inmemory of they were not to melee them, I am inclin‘d to Fhe Holy Men (as we have fhew’d in Abraham and others ) cide Plant and cultivate Groves, where theytraditional] ineckidi s Deity 5 and St. Hierom, Chryfoftom, Cypri an. Aesvjtine and h ‘ Fathers of the Churchgreatly magnified thefe pious ad - 2 and Cajetaz tells us, that from aac to Facob and sheincdiiecr ; dants they followed Abraham in this Cuftome : In fich pa were the Monuments oftheir Saints, andt he Bones of th i "Hee roes depofited 5 for which David celebrated the Humanit ah he Galaadites , In Nemora Fabes asthe molt facred and inviolat e In fuch a place did the Angel appe ar to Gideor Princ andin nhs i es were Inangurateds fo Abimelec, Judic.9, And the Rabbi on adda reafon whythey were reputedfo Vener able : becaufe m i. remotefrom Men and Company, more apt to com fe: the Sout and fit it for divine Adtions, and fometimes Aiba rhiens for hich the firft enclofures were attributed to Groves Moun tains Sein tains of Water,and the like folemn objects 5 as of peculiar SanGi ty , andas theo ld fenfe of all words denoting port feparateneffe and uncommon propriety sanfit ‘did i : See bh beahdd Meade. For though fince the Devils intrufion into Paradife, even the moft holy and devoted Places were not free from his Pantie tions and ougly Stratagems : Yet we find our Blefled Saviour did frequently retire into the Wildernefie, as Elijah and St. Jobe did before him, and divers other Holy men : The reafonis obvious,andI fhall fhew whenI come to {peak conc erning the ufe of Gardens in another Work( long fince atte mpted,and nowin fome forwardneffe) how the ir of fuch retir ed places may b alfiftant and influential for the inciting of Penitetitiat. mig preflions andaffections; efpecially where one may have the d dition al affiftances offolitary Grotts , murmuring Shtea ths oa defolate Profpects : Iremember that under a Tree was thé place of that admirable St. Ayguftines folemn Converfion after all his importunate reluctances : [ have often thou ght of it and it is a mealting paflage ashimfelf has recorded it, Con, |, g. c,8. and he gives the reafon , Solitudo enim mibi ad negotinm flendi aptior fuggerebatur, Andthat indeed fuch Opportunit ies were fuccefful for Recolletfion, and to the very reformat; fo ve y reformatio tion of fome ingenious Spirits from fecular Engagements to excellent and mortify< ing Purpofes,, we may find in that wonderful relation of Powis wus’s two Friends, great Courtiers of the time, as the fame Hol Fatherrelates it, previous to his own Converfion, _ 6. We fhall now inthe next place endevour to fhew howthi " s Innocent veneration to Groves pafled from the People of God to the Gentiles, and by what degrees it degenerated into danger ous Superititions : For the Dewi was alwayes Gods Ape, and did Hh fo |