340 RELATIONS OF TEEES TO POETRY. 



could not be saved from the woodman's axe except by 

 certain ceremonies on their part that should render it 

 sacred in the eyes of the people. To impress this idea 

 of its sanctity upon their minds, they made use of its 

 leaves and branches to consecrate all important private 

 or public transactions. 



In still more ancient times, the priests adopted the 

 expedient of dedicating to some one of the gods, par- 

 ticularly to Jupiter, certain woods and groves, which were 

 thenceforth held in veneration by all men, including even 

 invading armies, whose chiefs, while respecting neither 

 the lives nor the property of the enemy, held these con- 

 secrated groves sacred and inviolable. Hunting was for- 

 bidden within them by this superstition, and its injunc- 

 tions were in all cases religiously observed. It is even 

 asserted that the wild animals in these sacred groves had 

 become so tame, from the permanent security they enjoyed, 

 that they did not flee from the presence of man. 



Many persons formerly believed that trees felt the stroke 

 of the woodman's axe, which disturbed the repose of some 

 resident spirit. The ancient Greeks supposed certain trees 

 to be inhabited by wood-nymphs, and that these deities 

 uttered groans when the axe was laid upon the tree. 

 These sounds gave origin to the sacred oracle of Dodona. 

 There were two kinds of nymphs supposed to inhabit 

 trees, an inferior class that lived during the life of the 

 tree, and died when it perished ; and a superior class, like 

 the dryads, who could pass at will from one tree to another. 

 " One might fill a volume," says Evelyn, " with the history 

 of groves that were violated by wicked men who came to 

 untimely ends ; especially those upon which the mistletoe 

 grew, than which nothing was reputed more sacred." 



The custom of planting a tree at the birth of a child 

 has prevailed among certain nations from the earliest 

 times, and is still observed in some parts of Europe. 



