2OO 



CONSERVATION 



All familiar with the works of Ruskin 

 will affirm that his "field of labor" was 

 one of the most noble of modern times. 

 And we will here only add another quo- 

 tation from his writings about the 

 moral of landscapes. "It was," says 

 he, referring to the inspiration of beau- 

 tiful sceneries, "according to its 

 strength, inconsistent with every evil 

 feeling, with spite, anger, covetousness, 

 discontent, and every other hateful pas- 

 sion; but would associate itself deeply 

 with every just and noble sorrow, joy, 

 or affection." 



In the same chapter he speaks of the 

 works produced by some of the eminent 

 authors in whom love of nature formed 

 one of the strong traits of character, 

 giving the following words as a sum- 

 mary of the effects which this love pro- 

 duced: "And if we now take final and 

 full view of the matter, we shall find 

 that the love of nature, wherever it has 

 existed, has been a faithful and sacred 

 element of human feeling; * * * 

 it becomes the channel of certain sacred 

 truths, which by no other means can 

 be conveyed." On the other hand, as 

 a matter of contrast, he brings forth 

 some examples of the results attained 

 where this love was lacking ; proving 

 there the existence of a pleasure which 

 the writers themselves felt in mere 

 "filth and pain." "They delight in 

 dwelling upon vice, misfortune, or 

 folly, as a subject of amusement." 



Without seeking further data to 

 verify this line of thought, let us here 

 pass to the inferences deduced : that 

 the effects which environments lend to 

 one's work may be greater than at first 

 believed; and secondly: that purity of 

 environments will lead to purity of 

 thought ; for it is evident that there will 

 be no love of nature if there is around 

 us no nature to love. And as a sum- 

 mary of this analysis we will find that 

 the decline of this love does not only 

 bring devastated fields, but also a degen- 



eracy of moral sentiment; not only the 

 loss of material wealth, but also the 

 germs of national degeneration. 



"Beautiful things have an ideal to 

 show us," says Harris. "When we get 

 acquainted with them and, as it were, 

 get their confidence, they tell us their 

 secret." And in the beauty of Nature, 

 the vegetable kingdom, where the trees 

 of the forest rank as the summary of 

 all creative perfection, this secret will 

 be found to be in a happier and nobler 

 trend of thought. With this their an- 

 cient sacredness becomes more rational. 

 And we find, in our own time, not only 

 the apparent advisability of sparing the 

 old landmarks, but the necessity of in- 

 creasing as far as possible these areas 

 which bring their salutary influence to 

 both body and mind. In addition to 

 this rises the still graver need of not 

 only encouraging the growth of a na- 

 ture to love, but also the love of nature ; 

 the study of that which in itself is a 

 source of peace and pleasure. 



We must arrive at a true conception 

 of beauty, and learn that in a final 

 analysis the value of these verdant 

 areas will there even transcend their 

 economic worth ; leading, as it does, 

 not only to the highest development of 

 the most notable talents with which hu- 

 man minds have been endowed, but 

 also to a moral transcendency of the 

 people among which the influence of 

 these talents is brought to bear. And 

 in this way, and this way only, can we 

 leave to the future a country which is 

 not composed of barren hillsides and 

 barren hearts. 



"All those who love Nature she loves 

 in return, and will richly reward, not 

 perhaps with good things, as they are 

 commonly called, but with the best 

 things of this world ; not with money 

 and titles, horses and carriages, but 

 with bright and happy thoughts, con- 

 tentment and peace of mind." 



