es Court, he says that 'He read me part of a play or two of his
making, very good, but not as he conceits them, I think, to be.' Some of
these, including _My own Ephemeris or Diarie_, an autobiographical
memoir based on the journal or common-place book kept by him ever since
being eleven years of age, and his correspondence, were published
posthumously as _Memoirs illustrative of the Life and Writings of John
Evelyn Esqre. F.R.S._ in 1818. This has gone through nine editions and
reprints; and it affords, along with Pepys' diary, one of the best views
of the life of those times. Each is the complement of the other, and the
only matter of regret is that the original manuscript of Evelyn's actual
diary has not hitherto been forthcoming, as it would be infinitely
preferable to the compilation he made therefrom, which often refers to
future events. Other of his MSS. appeared as _Miscellaneous Writings of
John Evelyn Esq. F.R.S._ in 1825, _The Life of Mrs. Godolphin_ (see page
xlv) in 1847, and subsequently in five or six editions and reprints, and
_The History of Religion: A Rational Account of the True Religion_ in
1850. Of these the so-called _Diary_ is by far the most interesting and
important, and it is on it and on the _Sylva_ that his literary
reputation rests and has a sure and abiding foundation.

VIII

_Evelyn's Influence on British Arboriculture._

There can be no doubt that John Evelyn, both during his own lifetime and
throughout the two centuries which have elapsed since his death in 1706,
has exerted more individual influence, through his charming _Sylva, or a
Discourse of Forest Trees and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty's
Dominion_ (first published in 1664) than can be ascribed to any other
individual. The attention drawn to the subject of Arboriculture by Dr.
Hunter towards the end of the eighteenth and the beginning of the
nineteenth centuries was in connection with several new editions of that
classic work, while the impulse given to the formation of large
plantations between 1800 and 1830 by Sir Walter Scott and the celebrated
_Quarterly Review_ articles was connected very closely indeed with the
appearance of fresh editions of _Sylva_.

It is easy to understand the success of Evelyn's work and the influence
he exerted on British Arboriculture. First and foremost, he held the
brief in an excellent cause, because the maintenance of adequate
supplies of oak timber for shipbuilding ever remained