Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1866-08-29
VOL. XIII.

sake OF Woou. Inc trunks and roots and leaves
OF trees have other purposes yet to fulfil upon
earth. The primitive forests that covered the
earth as with protecting garment, shell cred
1t from the fury of the clouds and the fierce
lire of the sun the roots entered deep into
the crust OF the earth, reaching far and wide
IN all directions, and kept its loose particles
firmly together. Where this close, fbrous
web has been rudely torn asunder, there ahols
countries have changed thsr appearance, their
nature, and their climate. 1t is true it seemed
very advisable to cut down the forests in re-
gions covered with eternal msts where a dense
rank vegetation never allowed the benfcent
rays of the sun TO reach the damp soil, and
where mJrasses and swamps exhaled year after
year an air destructive 10 all animal life. But
here al@o the hasty deed has brought its never
falling penalty. Utilitarians spoke-in their
presumptuous superiority to our Makers wis
dom-oflaying low all the forests of the earth,
because th bore nutritious fruit and
because art had taught US to dispense with
wood so that the whole earth might become
one vast field of grain, and thus support twice
the number OF men it now maintain.
They plead that rotten trunks and burnt ashes
would enrich even absolutely sterile land and
render it fertile. But they forget that to de-
strOy all forests to deprive this artifcialy
leveled and enriched soil of its natural protec-
ton against these great powers OF nature that
tend necessarily to charge the surface of the
earth. The tempest would come and sweep
unhindered IN ooisterous fury over the exposed
plains snOw-storms would bury them under
masses of unbearabe weight rains would
Hood them and drown all they had produced
even the ocean that cannot be quiet, would rise
and dash againsL the shore, breaking and tear
ing II up by unceasing attacks. Ii this was TO
be the general fate Of the surface of the earth,
every portion of it would, besides. have to
h2a akg | he 4.
and the winds will sweep over the exposed
heights and cover the fertile plains with masses
of i1osened stones and sand. Heretofore the
millions of roots in the ground kept them to-
gether in their low depths murmured sweet
springs the broad branches sheltered them
from be fury of the and the drying power
of the winds. What country can be pleasant.
can even simply support man, that has no
springs to water It's meadows, to fill its wells
and to supply its lakes ? In our mind we may
do without ali these, but the heart cannot be
happy there, and as long man is not mere
mechanism, living by rlaclinery,the heart will
demand its share in his life and his happi-
ness.
There are so-called practical msn-and We
abhor them-Tho tell that man Wit can
supply all that forests now give US. They
boast that his skis and his ingenuity can fur
nish il cheaper in point OF space and time and
outlay than nature herself. They replace, as
we have seen, wood by metals /; they propose
to secure against storms, floods, and tides,
by gigantic walls and ramparts and canals /;
they raise collosa reservoirs or pyramids Of
| stone close beneath Gods own reservoirs in
the clouds; they water thirsty fields by steam
engines and cunning pumf works, so that we
/ NAV dispense with clouds and rain, with springs
and rivers. Bat such world of machinery,
! without the green OF cur woods, the fragrance
/ n he had rs l2. .Fr ha m l.
odies, the soothing solitude, the holy awe Of
| God's natural mpies-is that world for men
who love and hope and believe
/ History tells US that forests have TO do with
| the morals OF nations. Some dwelt under
their green boushs, and spared and loved them;
| they are the great nations of the earth. 9th
| ers destroyed them by FIRE ungratefuIIy
abandoned them and wandered about on the
steppe and in the desert, seeking shelter under
tents from the rays OF the sun and the rage o
the storm, praIsng the solitude of the night
| because they knew not the solitude OF ancient
| forests they are the children OF lshmael, the
| red men Of america, and their kindred. The
Paradise OF our first parents was lofty forest
with green meadows and bright waters. Man
fell, and he was driven cut TO his bread
in the sweat OF his brow. lie has never re.
turned 20 those trees, among which rose the
| tree Of life ana Of knowledge. And wherever
on this broad eartn he has left behind him tht
t patera4i shelter 0: woods, wherever with frs
/ and axe he das waged unmerciful agans
+, the nob!est gIits OF nature, ttere he has los
the sweet innocence of Paradise and exchanged
the simple Joys OF the child for the bitter dis
: | appointment OF the man.
: rae longing afler trees and their gratefu
shade with all their sweet associations, is innate
: in the heart of man, like the longing after Par
adse itself. We know not, with all our science
how the forests OF our first home, of Centra
j Asia, have psrlshed, whether by the careless
ness and the crime OF nations, or by the evi
D influence Of changing climate and temperature
IL is 3 secret likewise TO find the line on thes
lofty t4b.e-lands that separates the luxuriou
e growth of woods from the arid steppe. Ther
are still to De found here and there vast re
gions of fertile soil, where trees spring up AM
J thrive, but wherever they touch upon the des
ert, they are yellow and sere, dried up an
burnt And the desert Itself encroaches stead
: ily upon these favored oases, and buries yea
after year large tracts OF forest-laud under 1t
e buraipg sands. The Mohamedans, moreover
are bitter enemies Of forests they profess t
hear the spiritual beings that dwell in thel
, shade, and cut them down without mercy
5 But the longing after the lost treasures st
) breake out here and there in the East. Fa
q away. where the tide of migration ha
: surged around some bold promontory, or pas
: some hidden valley amid heaven-asplrin
y mountains, there are still noble forests stand
n ing, affording grateful shelter. The gentl
e lIndoo lies PROSTATE in the quiveriDg shade O
:. the banana, IN the dense Jungle or the thIckes
of the sacred forests, whose roots are washe
IS by the holy stream. And where the forest
5, lost to him forever, rs creates anew coilossa
d trees, carving them with unspeakable labor OF
It Of huge masses of rocks, and fancles he fee
e in their shadow the breath of the Deity. S
Of it is in the far West. The first settler come
]. with bitter hostility in his soul against tn
lie trees that keep him from reaping rich harves
'e from the fertile SOIL lie cuts and fells an
e, burns ell around him, and builds his log cabi
lr in the CHASTITY battlefield. But when his wor
lie is done, and the period OF enjoyment follow
Is TIE period of hard labor, the new owner builC
r his COSY cottage, and with Infinite pain an
ID great cost begins to raise once more the tre'
is he wants to shelter his home and to adorn b
al estate. He scatters them again over his helt
1t to give shade to his browsing cattle, and rals
Id large plantations to protect himself again
j. fierce winds and fatal colds. Thus every pat
le the way of usefulness and the natural impul
s. of lhe heart leads US back again to that sta
is of the earth which God himself first create'
* such as it was when ne that it goo
i'd Hours at Home.
es INDIA RUBBER COLLARS AND CUfFs.-A pr
II, cess for bleaching india ubber SO as to NAL
ct it perfectly white has been discovered. II
J. india rubber is then hardened, and will
at used for the manufacture of collars and Cuff
ID 1t is done by a chemical process, which is sa
e. to be fatal to the workmen engaged there