FLORA OF THE MOUNTAIN. 211 



dows, and the first mutterings of poetry and song, steals out 

 the mysterious life-thought, as "Tree of Knowledge," "Tree 

 of Jehovah," "Tree of Life," the essential celestial "and, 

 in a supreme sense, the Lord himself," "Tree of Exist- 

 ence," wonderful Igdrasil ! ! and the still more mystical and 

 divine Tree Azwattha, Symbol of the "Incorruptible Be- 

 ing." 



Even to the first opening intelligence of barbarous and 

 semi-barbarous tribes, there was discovered that "occult 

 relation between man and the vegetable," as from his earli- 

 est history a reverence for trees and forests was a marked 

 characteristic. The primitive home of the uncivilized 

 man, they gave the first sense of protection and comfort ; 

 the first temples of the gods, groves overwhelmed him 

 with awe, and impressed upon him veneration for the 

 supernals. 



" Who haunts the lonely coverts of the grove : 

 To these, and these of all mankind alone, 

 The gods are sure reveal'd, or sure unknown."* 



Old in story are the woods of the Druids ; old are the fables 

 of Pan, and trees sacred to the deities of the forests ; and 

 ancient are the groves of Silvanus and Dodona. The love 

 of woods, then, comes as a revelation of the profoundest 

 instincts of the soul ; for by no accident could appear this 

 constant fidelity, this inevitable worship. 



The retreat of the SAVAGE, the home of the POET, the 

 temple of the PRIEST, the ancient faith and primeval worship 

 of NATURE, was a phasis of man's development stretching 

 down to necessary and immortal affinities, rooted in inevit- 

 able placental relationships, sacred as bonds of a divine 

 maternity, and is still inseparable from the duration of his 

 normal life, as air from his lung or blood from his heart. 

 The forest must continue to be the heaven of ecstasy for 

 contemplation and worship, and the haven of rest for the 



* Howe. 



