326

A DISCOURSE

rook iv . Groves is so exprefs, it is frequently to be taken but catachrestically , from^' the Wooden Image or Statue called by that name, as our learned SeldenVid. Sane- makes out by sundry instances in his Syntagma de Diis Syris. IndeedGrot , imn! SCa ’ the use °f Groves upon account of devotion was so antient, and seemedso universal, that they consecrated not only real and natural Groves, butLucos pictos, artificial Hoscagc and representations of them.

The sum of all is, Paradise itself was but a kind of Nemorous Temple,or Sacred Grove, planted by God himself, and given to man, tanquam* Gen. u. 15. primo sacerdoti; the word is nay *, which properly signifies to serve oradminister res divinas ; a place consecrated for sober discipline, and tocontemplate those mysterious and sacramental trees, which they were notto touch with their hands; and in memory of them,. I am inclined to be-lieve, holy men (as we have showed in Abraham and others) might plantand cultivate Groves, where they traditionally invoked the Deity ; and St.Hierom, Chrysostom , Cyprian, Augustin, and other Fathers of thechurchy greatly magnified these pious advantages ; and Cajetan tells us,,that from Isaac to Jacob, and their descendants, they followed Abrahamin this custom. Solomon was a great Planter of Groves, and had an.house of pleasure, or lodge, in one of them for recefs. In such placeswere the monuments of their saints, and the bones, of their heroes depo-sited. David celebrated the humanity of the-men of Gilead for'burying‘the bones of Saul and his sons under a tree at Jabesh.. In such a placedid the angel appear to Gideon ; Judg. vi. And the Rabbins add a rea-son why they were reputed so venerable; because, being more remotefrom men and company, they were more apt to compose the soul, and fitit for divine actions c .

c l£ is natural for man to feel an awful'and religious terror when placed in the centre of~ a thick wood; on which account, in all ages,, such places have been chosen for the celebra-' tion of religious ceremonies. “ Lucos, et in iis silentia ipsa adoramus.” Seneca says, Siiibi occurrit vetustis arboribus, et solitam ahitudinem egrefsis frequent lucus , et cmsfectum Cceli densitale*ramarum aliorttm ahosfrotegentium submovens : iliafrroceritas Sylva, et secretumkci et. admitatio.umbra rin ajterto tam densce atque amthma,fidem tibi numinis facit. Epist. xli..

' All pale with sacred horror, they survey’dThe solemn mountain and the reverend shade.

Some God , the Monarch said, some latent GodDwells in that gloom, and haunts the frowning wood.

pjt-x’s VIRGIL,