1 50 UNDER THE TREES. 



those who find in Arden that satisfying thought of 

 life which is denied them among men. Modera 

 tion, simplicity, frugality for our private and per 

 sonal wants ; splendid profusion, noble lavishness, 

 beautiful luxury for that common life which now 

 languishes because so few recognize its needs. 

 When will the world learn the real lesson of civili 

 zation, and, for the cheap and ignoble aspect of 

 modern cities, bring back the stateliness of Rome 

 and the beauty of &amp;lt; that wonderful city whose poetry 

 and art were but the voices of her common life ? 



The murmuring stream at our door in Arden 

 whispered to us by day and by night the sweet 

 secret of the happiness in the Forest, where no 

 man strives to outshine his neighbor or to encum 

 ber the free and joyous play of his life with those 

 luxuries which are only another name for care. 

 Our modest little home sheltered but did not 

 enslave us ; it held a door open for all the sweet 

 ministries of affection, but it was barred against 

 anxiety and care ; birds sang at its flower-em 

 bowered windows, and the fragrance of the beauti 

 ful days lingered there, but no sound from the 

 world of those that strive and struggle ever entered. 

 We were joyous as children in a home which pro 

 tected our bodies while it set our spirits at liberty ; 

 which gave us the sweetness of rest and seclusion, 

 while it left us free to use the ample leisure of the 

 Forest and to drink deep of its rich and healthful 

 life. Vine-covered, overshadowed by the pine, 



