Scene along Indian River, Alaska, Showing! Spruce Timber 



early 



spring, 



says he, "and watch the 



swelHng leaf-buds. This is the tree's 

 busiest time, and yet how quietly it 

 does its work ! No one ever heard of 

 a nervous or fretful tree. * * * I 

 know a beech that yearly bears a half- 

 million of leaves, yet their growth never 

 made sufficient stir to deflect a thistle- 

 down from its course." To this he fur- 

 ther adds, that, "He is a poor student 

 who can spend a day with a tree and go 

 home none the wiser." 



All this may be perceived by a gen- 

 eral observer if the mind is in tune with 

 Nature; but still its greatest ethical 

 value can be seen only when we open 

 the portals of literature and art. The 



indebtedness of the latter to Nature is 

 self-evident, if we look into galleries 

 and homes for the beautifying pictorial 

 productions of the day; but of its rela- 

 tion to literature less is commonly 

 known. However, it is a recognized 

 fact that environments lend their modi- 

 fication to human character and work. 

 Of this Ruskin speaks, with due force 

 of expression, in the third volume of 

 Modern Painters : 



"This gift of taking pleasure in land- 

 scape I assuredly possess in a greater 

 degree than most men ; it having been 

 the ruling passion of my life, and the 

 reason for the choice of its field of 

 labor." 



199 



