80 MAJOR JOHN F. LACEY 



the man who sought evil fame and obtained lasting in- 

 famy by burning Diana's temple at Ephesus. Long will 

 the world remember with obloquy the reverend gentle- 

 man who cut down Shakespeare's tree to spite the people 

 of Stratford because he thought they had placed his taxes 

 too high. When Shakespeare was poaching deer he was 

 studying forestry too. 



His forest descriptions in Love's Labor Lost, As You 

 Like It, Midsummer Night's Dream, and The Merry 

 Wives of Windsor lead one to seek the quiet shade to find 

 Tongues in the trees, books in the running brooks, 

 Sermons in stones, and good in everything. 



This club represents the highest, purest, and noblest of 

 all sentiments — motherhood. 



The forest is the representative of motherhood. It 

 fertilizes the earth upon which it feeds. It never lives 

 for itself alone. It pays usury to nature. It bears the 

 fruit of the past and the seed of the future. 



A vigorous and healthy forest is the height of nature 's 

 adornment. 



We have always been sensible to its beauty: we are 

 now deeply concerned in its utility. The forests have al- 

 ways been modest in their requirements. All they have 

 asked has been standing room. Give them but place and 

 they will patiently do their work. Their long arms have 

 reached out for ages and gathered from the air the ele- 

 ments of growth which they have added to the soil. 



Reverently they lift their heads to the sky and spread 

 their supplicating arms. 



As Dr. Holmes has expressed it : 



Cedars spread their palms like holy men at prayer. 



And Alexander Smith described the trees in winter : 

 The trees were gazing up into the sky 

 With their bare arms stretched in prayer for the snows. 



