ETHICS OF THE FOREST 



By ALEXANDRE ERIXON 



"By day or by night, summer or winter, beneath the trees the heart feels nearer to that depth 

 of life which the far sky means. The rest of spirit, found only in beauty, ideal and pure, comes 

 there because the distance seems within touch of thought." — Jefferies, 



NATURE, with its spirit of serenity 

 and gentle teachings, is truly per- 

 ceived by only a few in the busy 

 rush of our prosaic time ; and yet, if 

 we will only stop to consider, we shall 

 find that the phase here presented is 

 not the one of least value. 



"To most of us," says Lubbock, 

 "Nature when sombre, or even gloomy, 

 is soothing and consoling; when bright 

 and beautiful, not only raises the spirit, 

 but inspires and elevates the whole 

 being." 



No wonder that in ancient times the 

 raiment of the fields and hillsides be- 

 came an object of reverence, and that 

 the forests were held in religious wor- 

 ship. With a roof of leaves, a carpet 

 of moss and flowers, the stillness, and 

 the softened light of the shady arcades, 

 what a realm we have for the fairies 

 of old mythology ! But though our age 

 can see only as visions of the past, there 

 are yet monarchs of the forest that be- 

 come enveloped with their own chap- 

 ters of historic events, which give them 

 an added charm even to the less poetic 

 observer. In our own country these 

 landmarks may yet be few, but if 

 not neglected they will go down 

 into the annals of posterity like "The 

 Soma Cypress of Lombardy, which 

 is 120 feet high and twenty-three 

 in circumference, and is calculated 

 to go back forty years before the 

 birth of Christ. Francis the First is 

 said to have driven his sword into it 

 in despair after the battle of Padua, 

 and Napoleon altered his road over the 

 Simplon so as to spare it." And though 

 their history may not have so many 



pages as that of this, even the trees 

 under which we played as children will 

 come back with reverent memories if 

 we see them shading the same plot of 

 grass, after many years. 



But there are also pleasures and 

 benefits which are ours to enjoy to- 

 day ; though often they are so common 

 as to pass unheeded. The comfort of 

 shade in the warmth of summer, be- 

 neath a canopy of leaves is one of the 

 free gifts of the forest. Again, there 

 is the shelter which it yields in a storm. 

 And not least, the fresh fragrance of 

 its purified air, where with each breath 

 we gain a lengthened lease of life, and 

 the mind is revived as well as the body. 

 Lastly, in this class, we may also add 

 that of wealth, following as a gift of 

 the forest, of which Sir John Lubbock 

 gives us an example when speaking of 

 "The region of the Landes, which fifty 

 years ago was one of the poorest and 

 most miserable in France, but has now 

 been made one of the most prosperous, 

 owing to the planting of pines. The 

 increased value is estimated at no less 

 than 1,000,000,000 francs. Where there 

 were fifty years ago only a few thou- 

 sand poor and unhealthy shepherds 

 whose flocks pastured on the scanty 

 herbage, there are now sawmills, char- 

 coal kilns and turpentine works, inter- 

 spersed with thriving villages and fertile 

 agricultural lands." 



"Speak to the earth and it shall teach 

 thee," says Job. And truly, to those 

 who study Nature, it will also have its 

 lesson. Of this Charles C. Abbott 

 brings fortb a very pretty illustration 

 when speaking of a tree. "Go to it in 



197 



