FINE ARTS. ON A FEW OF THE ANCIENT ECCLESIASTICAL RELICS OF GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE STILL EXISTING IN SCOTLAND. By Jonathan A. Bell. "Where ruins grey Nod to the Moon.". -BURNS. ing the difference betwixt a heavy piece of unsafe stone and slate deformity, and the beautiful geometrical outline of the simplest piece of "Early English" work,or the mind from feeling the truly religious emotions which a good Gothic interior never fails to produce. But the architectural knowledge of the clergy and others is not to be extended by a mere raking and puzzling after dates. A careful and critical perusal of Gothic Architecture in England, or more properly, English Architecture, will be found absolutely necessary before the eye can acquire a clear and decided In the history of few cities shall we find so rapid and discrimination of style. It is not our intention, nor successful a progress in the knowledge and practical would it be possible in so short a sketch, to attempt an cultivation of architecture, and the fine arts in general, explanation of the various contingent circumstances as has been manifestly exhibited within the last few which serve to mark the styles, and consequently the years in the Northern Metropolis. Indeed, so very dates of Gothic or English architecture, as completely sudden has been the change from the lofty, untutored, as the acanthus, volute, and triglyph, mark a difference step-gabled buildings of Normandy to the most refined of order in the Grecian. In the few observations we and pure examples of Greece, that one is apt to doubt propose, we shall confine ourselves to the simple and whether a taste will be permanent which bears too much judicious nomenclature given by Mr Rickman, in his resemblance, in the rapidity of its motions, to the waver-"Essay on Gothic Architecture;" from which, without ing uncertainty of fashion. A proper relish for Grecian architecture can only be attained by careful examination, by accustoming the eye to purity of outline, and the mind to that energy and delightful chastity which, though differently developed, characterize alike Grecian sculpture and architecture. We are willing to believe, however, that what may have been at first the effect of caprice or affectation, will speedily attain a firm footing on the broad basis of cultivated taste; and the only reasons we have for quarrelling with this Patagonian stride are, that the modesty of nature has been already overstepped in several instances, and, what we lament still more, the characteristic architecture of the country has been allowed to fall into utter oblivion. Thus the sudden predilection for classic novelty seems likely to complete what the barbarous and cruel spoliations of the Covenanters began. A sufficient number of relics, however, still remain, scattered about the land like unavenged spirits, pointing back with mournful finger to the period of their former glory, to show clearly what that architecture has been. Though in many cases debased and Frenchified, we yet question much if England herself, stored as she is with all her magnificent ecclesiastical trophies, can boast of any, more ancient or interesting, than are to be found in several of the counties of Scotland, and more especially the northern. The very debasement of style, and stamp of foreign ideas, intermingled here and there, though much to be regretted, by the architect, who, like the painter, is ever in pursuit of the beautiful, ought only to awaken more general curiosity. It has always appeared to us matter of no small wonder, that such a feeling does not exist, especially among the Scottish clergy, considering the sacred character of most of the ruins to which we allude-some of which, indeed, are still in a sufficient state of repair to admit of their being employed as parish churches. Besides their being so closely connected with the history of the Reformation and other clerical matters, another motive for paying attention to this subject is to be found in the gradual refinement and elegance of taste which would necessarily flow from it, and the probable introduction of the pure 66 English Architecture" into religious edifices of the day. The slovenly and mean manner in which most parish churches are built at present would no longer be permitted by men who nad learned to appreciate the value of a style which we are now pleased to term Gothic and barbarous as if these were convertible terms. Nor would the architect, builder, and clerk of works, confused and huddled into one person, be allowed to send forth his vulgar conceptions and bad execution. Surely the spirit which, perhaps rightly, inspired the Covenanters, cannot now exist to such an extent as to prevent the eye from distinguish quitting his closet, a man of ordinary comprehension may cull sufficient to enable him to know something of both styles and dates. Though the subject seems naturally to divide itself into two parts, ecclesiastical and castellated ruins, we shall confine ourselves to the former alone. Castle, when applied to a Scottish ruin, is often a misnomer. The Scottish castle, in many instances, is merely a rudely fortified mansion, and sometimes only a single square tower, which, before the accession of James VI. to the throne of England, every petty baron, or baron's retainer of any wealth or consequence, was forced to inhabit, to protect him from the predatory attacks of a lawless and disjointed population. Generally speaking, the architectural remains of these strongholds are rude, without character, and by no means to be for a moment compared, in importance, to the ecclesiastical ruin, inheriting, as it does, a portion of the magnificence and richness displayed in the religion of its original founders. Leaving, then, the castle to the perusal and study of the inquisitive antiquarian, we shall notice, in as brief and concise a manner as possible, one or two of the ecclesiastical ruins most eminent for their architectural peculiarity. Were we to launch out into desultory remarks and poetical descriptions of scenery, we should find our lucubrations, like the evening shadow on the dial, still growing upon us, the nearer we approached the seeming termination of the subject. ELGIN CATHEDRAL, MORAYSHIRE.—Though aware that there are one or two ruins of some consequence north of this latitude, especially the church of St Magnus in Kirkwall, Orkney; the Priory of Beau Lieu, or Bewly, in Ross-shire; and Pluscardine Priory-to the preservation of which its noble owner has given every attention,-yet none of these are so characteristic or important. In its perfect state, the Cathedral of Elgin must have been one of the finest, if not the finest, sacred edifice in Scotland. Its plan originally was that of a magnificent cross church, with nave, aisles, transepts, choir, chapter house, and chapels,— dismantled parts of all which are still in existence. There have been originally three towers, two at the west end of nave aisles, and one at the intersection of the nave and transepts. The whole of this ruinfor ruin it is most effectually, as the ground is quite strewn with the fragments-is of an early character, with here and there a very few marks of perpendicular work. The western towers, portions of which still exist, are Norman in outline, possessing also the broad, flat buttresses, and the double windows divided by shafts, belonging to that style. Some fine doors still remain, strangely ornamented with a decided mixture of the early English-toothed ornament, and the Decorated square flowers. The tracery of almost all the windows, to which, by the by, the civic authorities of the present day seem to bear as much enmity as the reformers of yore, is either destroyed or cut out; some four and two lights still are readable, however, and appear to belong to what may be termed the early Decorated, or Transition style from early English to Decorated. The east end is an elaborate piece of early English, though possessing several symptoms of foreign outline, The Chapterhouse, which may be considered of Decorated date, is richly groined, and the central pier has shafts entwined with wreaths and flowered capitals. On the whole, this ruin is a most interesting one, and of a chaster character than we generally see in Scotland. THE CHURCH OF OLDMACHAR, ABERDEENSHIRE. -The church of Old Machar, generally termed the cathedral of Old Aberdeen, must have been, when perfect, a magnificent structure, as even now the nave, which is all that is in preservation, forms of itself a large and handsome building. Some part of the transept walling still remains, which shows the plan of the church to have been that of a cross. The west front is of granite, worked boldly in the Decorated style. There are two towers, with short spires. The towers have projected battlements, and are machicolated. There is a wood roof in the interior, of good character. Some monuments exist in the transepts, which are shamefully exposed to the weather, though possessing much good detail. Several of the smaller mouldings of this church show how much may be done with granite. GLASGOW CATHEDRAL.-This is a piece of early English design, in exceedingly good repair, of a chaste and beautiful character, and is well worthy more attentive observation and study than is generally allotted to it. From that spirit of Scottish economy, however, which has ruined so many of the larger ancient churches, it has not entirely escaped. In plan, it is the almost universal one of a cross, with the transepts metamorphosed into entrances to the nave and aisles, which are fitted up for the reception of one congregation; and to the choir and aisles, which accommodate another. The transepts, which, by the way, are singularly short, and have both had additions, are now in complete ruins, and are crowned at their intersection with nave and choir, with a tower and spire, the upper portion of which is easily distinguished as of modern date. There is also a tower at the west end of the north aisle. In composition the nave and choir differ materially, but both are good. The choir is considerably richer in its detail, possessing many specimens of foliage of equal design and execution with those of the largest and most elaborate in the English cathedrals. The west door, though now built up, deserves to be noticed for its decidedly foreign appearance, -French in design, and English in detail. The great attraction of the cathedral is the Crypt, (under the choir and adjoining chapter-house,) which is not equalled by any English examples, in spite of their variety and beauty. It is an intricate piece of rich early English work, with piers, arches, and groining of highly orna mented character. The intersection of the groins are adorned with splendid bosses, and the doors and piercapitals are rich in flowers and other ornaments peculiar to the style. flowered capitals, or mouldings of better character. The centre and transepts have bosses of much beauty, and the choir is groined with plain aisles. The south door stands in an open porch, formed by a circular segmental arch springing from two boldly projecting buttresses, with some good groining. This seems to have been the source whence a porch of the same design has been taken to adorn Roslin Chapel, and is curious on that account. There are a few mouldings, and other details worth note, scattered elsewhere about the exterior. MELROSE ABBEY.-Though not one of the most characteristic, this is certainly one of the most magnificent, ruins of which Scotland can boast. As we approach the Border, we find the architecture gradually losing its foreign peculiarities, and verging more and more into pure English work. The styles here are of all gradations, from early English to Perpendicular, with here and there curious mixtures of both, the design being early, and the details late,-a peculiarity not unfrequently to be observed in Scotland. The greater portion, however, is Decorated, and of excellent character. The present remains consist of almost all the church, and part of the cloisters. The nave has two south aisles, one very narrow, and then another broader beyond. The choir, though very short, having but small projection from the transepts, is richly groined. A decorated window of five lights, which belongs to the south transept, is quite a model of beauty; and the east window, of Perpendicular date, though mutilation and alteration have been busy with it, still displays the skeleton of a noble design. There are some good ancient monuments;-here sleeps the gallant James, son of William, Earl of Douglas, who fell at the battle of Otterburn, unable to withstand the fiery onset of valiant Hotspur. In speaking of this ruin, we have been much less diffuse than we otherwise should have been, had it not been so well known, both by inspection and description. It is the property of the Duke of Buccleuch, and we should almost deem it the most valuable of all his Scottish possessions,—the fairest jewel in his ducal coronet. Before concluding these cursory remarks, we cannot refrain from again earnestly calling the attention of the public, and of the clergy in particular, to the careful perusal and study of Scottish ruins in general. They are relics of architecture peculiarly national; of architecture, from the solemnity of its character, well fitted for religious purposes, and offering to the mere amateur, or antiquarian idler, a wide field for speculative lore. To the artist, too, particularly the architectural draughtsman, they offer a large extent of untrodden ground, the greater part of them having never been illustrated by engraving, and the few which have are robbed of their fair proportions, vulgarized, modified, and mangled. ORIGINAL POETRY. FRAGMENT OF A POETICAL EPISTLE, Addressed to a friend in England, in the year 1826, when the Young Ladies of Edinburgh gave up their time entirely to filling Bazars with ingenious Works, sold to assist the Poor in a severe Season. By Mrs Grant of Laggan. THE OLD COLLEGE CHURCH, EDINBURGH. We mention this example parti larly, in order to attract attention to a very beautiful composit on, now in a state of utter neglect and oblivion. Of this church, which has been a cross one, only the choir and transepts I HAVE plunged unawares into sad retrospection, exist, the nave having disappeared, as well as the tracery of most of the windows,-thanks, probably, to the anti-Yet do not imagine me sunk in dejection; Gothic gusto of some pseudo magisterial junto. In spite To gratitude, friendship, and kindness, alive, of these dilapidations, however, there still remains suffi- To please and be pleased, I assiduously strive; cient food for the architect, ever hungry in these matNor view with indifference the fair and the witty, ters. The style, interiorly, is Decorated, with piers and That adorn this self-named intellectual city. arches of beautiful workmanship. Indeed, I question To beauty and merit their claims I allow, much if England herself could produce more exquisitely- But to me they were ne'er so attractive as now : The gayest of gay, and the finest of fine, Now wait, like meek handmaids, round Charity's shrine. And with richest rewards their devotions were crown'd. We observe that the London Weekly Review has passed into new hands; and a farewell dinner has been given to Mr D. L. Richardson, the original projector of that work, who is about to revisit India on professional business. Judging by the specimens which have been submitted to us of Jones's Illustrations of Modern Athens, or Views in Edinburgh, we are inclined to augur very favourably of this work, which is about to be published in Numbers, each Number containing four Views and four pages of letter-press, and the price to be so low as one shilling. R. A. Smith.-The professional musical talent of Edinburgh has sustained no slight loss in the recent death of this tasteful and industrious composer. In private life, Mr Smith was distinguished for his modest and amiable manners; and, as a musician, his genius will live in many simple and beautiful airs which he has left behind him. It will be long before the place he so ably filled among our amateur and professional artists can be adequately supplied. We have seen the engraving of Miss Eliza Paton, which is to form the frontispiece to the first number of the "Edinburgh Musical Album," and are happy to assure our readers and the friends of that lady, that we look upon it as a performance highly creditable to the artists concerned. The engraving is by Mr Wilson, from a painting by Mr M'Innes, a young artist of much promise, The likeness is exceedingly good, and the style of execution chaste and elegant. Theatrical Gossip.-For want of a Mrs Siddons or a Miss O' Neil, the London critics are contented to be greatly delighted with Miss Phillips: but we suspect much that this young lady, though a correct and pleasing actress, possesses little powerful and original genius.-We perceive that the Beaux Stratagem, one of the best of our English comedies, has been revived at Covent Garden, and has been admirably performed. Charles Kemble was Archer, Keeley was Scrub, Blanchard was Sullen, Miss Forde was Cherry, and Miss Chester was Mrs Sullen. We should like to see Miss Chester here; she must be a splendid woman. One of the best of the London critics says, "Her first launch on to the boards was as proud and magnificent a vision, as if she had been (like 'the towered Cybele') a personification of Windsor Castle, round tower, keep, battlements, and all!" We should be glad to see our own Manager play the part of Scrub, and in other respects we think he could cast the Beaux Stratagem very respectably.-The popular little Theatre of the Adelphi has produced a Harlequinade, which, in the judgment of the juvenile audience, beats those at the great houses to sticks-it is called "The Magic Marrowbone; or, Taffy was a Welchman, Taffy was a Thief" A clown, who appears in it, by name Paulo, is declared to be the only le gitimate descendant of Joe Grimaldi now on the stage.-The French plays at the English Opera house have commenced. Be That robb'd Death of its sting, and the Grave of its sides all the comedians whom we have had here, the company We learn that the Arcana of Science and Art, for 1829, will be published this month; and will contain all the popular discoveries and improvements of the past year, in mechanical and chemical science, natural history, rural and domestic economy, the useful and fine arts, and a miscellaneous register. The forthcoming volume will be somewhat larger than that of last year, and will be illustrated with upwards of twenty engravings. The new sacred poem, "The Opening of the Sixth Seal," originally announced for November last, and accidentally delayed, will, we are informed, at length positively appear in the middle of January. It is to be dedicated, by permission, to the Reverend H. H. Milman, Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford. The forthcoming "London Review," edited by the Reverend J. Blanco White, will appear early in February. The Editor, in his prospectus, states that the London Review is not established, as has been surmised from his former writings, with the design either of opposing or assisting the claims of the Roman Catholics. He also asserts political independence of all parties; attaches great weight to questions of political economy; professes religious moderation; and declares his determination that the London Review shall not advocate the interests of any class, however powerful, in opposition to those of the community. A work of an elegant and interesting kind, entitled "The Tower Menagerie," and comprising delineations, descriptions, and anecdotes of all the animals in the Tower, is on the eve of publication. It will make an excellent present for young per sons. The second volume of Memoirs of the Affairs of Europe, from the Peace of Utrecht, by Lord John Russell, will appear in a few days. A Literary Gazette is about to be started at Manchester, much upon the plan of the Edinburgh Literary Journal. is to comprise Miles. Jenny Vertpré and Jenny Collon, and Mes sieurs Laporte, Perlet, &c.-Miss Paton has been performing in Dublin with the greatest relat.-Nothing of any consequence has been doing at our Theatre; small ephemeral pieces, in two acts, seem to be the staple commodity. We anticipate soon, however, some more distinguished novelties; and we shall ourselves take an early opportunity of saying a few words concerning each of the leading members of our company.-There is a tight-rope dancer at the Caledonian Theatre, of the name of Wilson, whose very extraordinary feats are certainly well worth seeing. TO OUR CORRESPONDENTS. "Adeline," from the German of Burger, and " A Scots Sang," by the Ettrick Shepherd, in our next. A press of matter forces us reluctantly to postpone “ Stanzas written at Midnight," till next week. The Remarks On Language" are clever, but do not seem exactly calculated for our pages." Confessions of an Inconstant" are well written; but we cannot consent to continue any article through three or four Numbers. The paper concerning" Mary Queen of Scots" will not suit us." Monsters not mentioned by Linnæus" was not written by the gentleman named; his article was in a previous column. The "Stanzas" from Glasgow we like, and propose publishing them soon.-Laura's Lines "On discovering a dead mother's smile on the countenance of her child," give promise of future excellence-The" Lines to Professor Wilson, on reading his Vale of Peace,'" are not worthy of the subject.-There is considerable genius and feeling in the verses entitled, "I love thee-only thee," but they are not perfect enough." Jack's Ode to the New Year" will not suit us. We fear the "Parody" will never see the light.-We have received the following EPIGRAM ON THOMAS HOOD. When the prophet abandon'd this world of folly, All communications for the EDITOR must be post-paid. LITERARY CRITICISM. "The Planter's Guide; or a Practical Essay on the best Method of giving immediate Effect to Wood, by the removal of large Trees and Underwood; being an attempt to place the Art, and that of general Arboriculture on phytological and fixed principles. By Sir Henry Steuart, Bart. Second Edition; greatly improved and enlarged. Edinburgh and London. John Murray. 1828. PRICE 6d. and other countries on the culture of wood, no attempt was ever made till now to teach planting on scientific principles, or any principles at all; whilst chemistry and physiology have, in modern hands, rendered the sister department of agriculture a new art. Some idea may be formed of the low state of arboricultural knowledge all over the country, from the fact, that only a short time ago, a person of the name of Withers an attorney at Holt, in Norfolk, and possessed of only a few acres of ground,-not only imposed the most absurd theories on the public, but actually frightened the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, by threatening a parliamentary inquiry. This could never have been the THE first edition of this work was published early case had science been properly directed to the subject of in the year 1828, and was sold in three months. A se- planting, and those principles established, which, being cond edition, was published last December, and is already founded on an attentive examination of natural facts, it nearly all sold off, so that a third is likely to be called would be impossible for the most ingenious sophistry for ere long. Besides the elaborate and highly com- to controvert. But the truth is, that from the days of mendatory reviews of the "Planter's Guide," which the Romans under Nero and Vespasian, the art has sushave appeared in most of the scientific and agricultural tained no great alteration or improvement. The phyjournals, it has been also introduced to more general siological properties and anatomy of trees having been notice by very able articles in the Quarterly Review and totally disregarded by planters, their culture and maBlackwood's Magazine, the former of which was writ- nagement has been generally looked upon as a seten by Sir Walter Scott, and the latter by Professor condary branch of Horticulture, and the art of transWilson. It may seem almost superfluous in us, at this time planting, in particular, or of giving immediate effect to of day, to offer any observations on a work now so very wood, has continued as much a matter of mere physical widely known and esteemed. The improvements, how- force as it was in the times of Prince Maurice of Saxever, on the present edition are of that nature which give ony, or Louis the Fourteenth, both of whom squanderit several new features, and in particular, greatly extended immense sums in disfiguring and tearing up by the its applicability to the purposes of the general planter. Besides, there is one view of the subject which has not been insisted on by any previous reviewer so strongly as we conceive the author would wish, and which appears to us of such importance as to warrant our directing the attention of our readers to it in an especial manner. We allude not to the mere practical and mechanical discoveries, which it is obvious to every one Sir Henry Steuart has made in the art of giving immediate effect to wood, but to the far higher and more philosophical ground he has taken, in applying to the science of arboriculture, physiological and chemical principles. We touch upon this point the more willingly, because Sir Henry Steuart, with all his phytological knowledge, has carefully avoided any thing like the dry technicalities of abstract science, or the quackery and affectation which aim more at a display of individual acquirements, (often sufficiently superficial,) than the imparting of useful information to others. He writes in a clear and popular style, and, scientific as he is, he steadily keeps his main object in view from beginning to end; which is by a process of inductive reasoning, founded on the facts he elicits as he proceeds, to show, that the transplanting of large trees, the yegav♪pvov μsтaQUTEVE, is not an impossible task, but a very practicable labour, and that country gentlemen may, whenever they please, and at a moderate expense, scatter them about their parks, though the subjects transplanted be fifty and sixty years old. It is not a little remarkable, that, notwithstanding the libraries of books which have been written in this roots, trees which were never destined to be restored to the beauty and vigour of which they were thus rudely deprived." In all countries trees are probably the most important production of the vegetable kingdom to civilized man; but in Great Britain, whose very existence as a powerful and independent nation is believed to depend upon her navy, they acquire a double value, and are deserving of double attention. Were it only a question regarding the raising of the best oak, it should be considered as one of vital importance, and felt to be more or less interesting by every British landowner. But the subject is one of still wider range, and in some shape or other comes home to the bosoms of all who have ever rejoiced in the green luxuriance of nature. Trees not only furnish the material on which the most useful and the most elegant arts depend for their very existence, but of all the ornaments which give variety and beauty to the surface of the earth, they are the most conspicuous. They are associated with all that is holy in nature, and with much that is tender and endearing in our mellowed recollections of the past. There is perhaps no inanimate object to which we may become so much attached as to a tree, the old ancestral tree, that seemed with a sort of silent pleasure to shelter the home of our childhood, and under whose paternal branches, our children, and our children's children, may yet be seen to sport for many a summer day. Trees are mute companions that have known us in all our moods, and have almost shared them with us. Beautiful are they amidst the odours, cultivated among us, and applied to the improvement of the arts. The ingenious writings and interesting discoveries of Mr Knight, the president of the Horticul tural Society of London, have done much to turn the public attention to Vegetable Physiology, as important to the advancement of Horticulture. The late very able work of Mr Keith, on Physiological Botany, has completely systematized the science; it has tended to correct the errors, and supply the omissions, of former writers, and to bring forward, in one luminous view, both his own discoveries and those of foreign nations. and the gentle showers, and the young blossoms of spring; glorious are they in the gorgeous apparel of the blue-skied suminer, with the wood-pigeons and manycoloured birds cooing and singing unseen deep in the recesses of their umbrageous boughs; touching are they in autumn, and hallowed with a thousand moral meanings, in the decaying magnificence of their rainbow foliage; and venerable, ay, and beautiful, are they in winter, bending their bare branches to the blast, or with all their twigs and sprays stiff and motionless as coral, in the clear frosty air, and glittering in a white covering of snow. Trees have figured both in public and in pri- "Let us, therefore, hope, that the present attempt to vate life; on the page of history, and in the unedited bring vegetable physiology into notice, by applying it annals of the heart. Add to all these associations, others to the practice of arboriculture, may not be less successarising from a recollection of the many useful and beau-ful than that of applying chemistry to husbandry, which, tiful inventions to which human ingenuity has made to the astonishment of Europe, has rendered the culti timber subservient, and see it in particular triumphing vation of the soil a new art in modern hands. The culover that element which so long rolled its wide waters ture of wood, as has been already observed, in point of in despotic loneliness; and we may at length be able to rank and importance, certainly stands next to the culperceive, in its proper light, the value of a work that ture of the soil, and, in point of attraction, it stands a goes far to dissipate the ignorance, error, and confusion, great deal higher, from the delightful effects it every that have so long prevailed regarding the planting and where produces; whether they are seen in the deep serearing of trees; the giving immediate effect to them by clusion of the grove, the open richness of the park, or assigning them the most tasteful and genial situations; the endless charms of woodland scenery. Since the laand in general all that relates to arboriculture, from the dies of late have become students of chemistry, it is not minutest details of execution, to the most extensive re- too much to expect, that they will be ambitious of at sults of experience. taining proficiency in a science, so much more akin to their own pursuits; and that country gentlemen, emulous to profit by so illustrious an example, will not suffer vegetable physiology to be any longer a desideratum, either in their own acquirements, or in those of their gardeners, their foresters, or their land-stewards. Thus a new era will be brought about in British arboriculture, of which the most remarkable circumstance is, that it has not been brought about before, amidst the advancement of the other arts. And thus England, which, a century and a half ago, was the birth-place and the cradle of vegetable physiology, will soon give lessons in planting, as well as agriculture, to the rest of Europe." p. 11-14. In many of the shorter reviews which have appeared of the work before us, we have been sorry to see, that the praise, though encomiastic, was of little value, be cause it was given at random, and without a due appreciation of what Sir Henry Steuart has done, still more for the science than for the practice of planting. But we are afraid that of many reviewers it may be said, laudant quod non intelligunt. In the present case, at least, it is clear that from a want of phytological information, they have too often considered planting, like digging or ploughing, a mere mechanical art, whilst, with all due deference, it is to us very evident, that the author's chief merit consists in his elevating it to that rank it is entitled to hold among the sciences. Let us see for a moment what are his own words upon this subject. We recommend the following passage to the best attention of our readers : "But the principles on which it is established, imply a far wider range, and admit of a far more important application. The art of giving immediate effect to wood is not merely an art of practice-it is founded on vegetable physiology and the anatomy of plants, and constitutes one branch only of GENERAL PLANTING, -which it is still more important to teach, on some principles of science. To carry the former into effect, it is obvious that, as materials of considerable magnitude are necessary, so difficulties are found, which do not occur in ordinary planting, and by doing greater violence to nature, it requires far greater dexterity, as well as greater science. To teach the art, therefore, of removing large trees, is to teach, in the most effective manner, that of General Planting on Physiological principles, which, as they are drawn from nature herself, cannot err, and accordingly they furnish the only certain means of accounting for its failure, or teaching it with success. He who can raise a tree from the seed to the state of valuable timber, whether for ornament or use, must possess a certain acquaintance with the habits of woody plants: But the man who can remove trees of considerable age and magnitude at pleasure, must necessarily possess the same species of skill, and a knowledge of the laws of nature to a much superior extent. "On a subject like this, which is wholly new, but not the less interesting to the British planter, I would earnestly entreat the attention and indulgence of the reader. It is not more than three score years since chemistry and natural history have been successfully It is with the view of giving all the aid in the author's power to this desirable consummation, that the present work has been written. It is divided into eleven Sections, which are followed by a copious supply of notes and illustrations. The table of contents is very full, and comprises a distinct analysis of the whole work,a plan, we think, well worthy of imitation in similar productions. The first section is introductory; showing the utility and importance of arboriculture, and the necessity of establishing fixed principles, on which alone the removal of wood for immediate effect can be safely conducted. The second section comprises a history of the art, from the earliest down to the present times; by which it appears that the practice of removing large trees was known both to the Greeks and Romans, but never carried into effect by them without extreme difficulty and little success; and that, though it made some progress after the revival of learning in modern Europe, it never rose beyond the rank of a mechanical art, and has, consequently, been always considered unfit for general purposes, limited in its application, and hazardous and uncertain in its execution. The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sections are devoted to an exposition and examination of the scientific principles of arboriculture, and now, for the first time, distinctly point out how chemistry and vegetable physiology may be applied to planting of all sorts, as well as to the preparation and selection of all sorts of soils. This is done, as we have already said, and shall immediately prove, without the introduction of any disgusting jargon, which no practical planter could understand, and which would have rendered the book a dead letter, destined speedily to have gone down in vicum vendentem thus et odores." Our author |