326 ARBOR DAY 



grave and noble circle which adorned the mountain 

 is every day contracting. Where you come in hope 

 of seeing life, you find but the image of death. Oh, 

 who will really undertake the defense of the trees, 

 and rescue them from senseless destruction? Who 

 will eloquently set forth their manifold mission, 

 and their active and incessant assistance in the 

 regulation of the laws which rule our globe? With- 

 out them, it seems delivered over to blind destiny, 

 which will involve it again into chaos. The motive 

 powers and purifiers of the atmosphere through the 

 respiration of their foliage, avaricious collectors, to 

 the advantage of future ages, of the solar heat, it is 

 they which pacify the storm and avert its most 

 disastrous consequences. In the low-lying plains, 

 which have no outlet for their waters, the trees, long 

 before the advent of man, drained the soil by their 

 roots, forcing the stagnant waters to descend and 

 construct at a lower depth their useful reservoirs. 

 And now, on the abrupt declivities, they consolidate 

 the crumbling soil, check and break the torrent, 

 control the melting of the snows, and preserve 

 to the meadows the fertile humidity which in due 

 time will overspread them with a sea of flowers. 

 And is not this enough? To watch over the life of 

 the plant and its general harmony, is it not to 

 watch over the safety of humanity ? The tree, again, 

 was created for the nurture of man, to assist him in 

 his industries and his arts. It is owing to the tree, 



