The genuine woodland villagers, the foresters,
wood-cutters, and forest laborers are the strong, rude seamen among us
landlubbers. Uproot the forests, level the mountains, and shut out the
sea, if you want to equalize society in a closet-civilization where all
will have the same polish and all be of the same color. We have seen
that entire flourishing lands which have been robbed of the protecting
forests have fallen prey to the devastating floods of the mountain
streams and the scorching breath of the storms. A large part of Italy,
the paradise of Europe, is a land which has, ceased to live, because its
soil no longer bears any forests under the protection of which it might
become rejuvenated. And not only is the land exhausted, but the people
are, likewise. A nation must die off when it can no longer have recourse
to the back-woodsmen in order to gather from them the fresh strength of
a natural, hardy, national life. A nation without considerable
forest-property is worthy of the same consideration as a nation without
requisite sea-coast. We must preserve our forests not only so that our
stoves shall not be cold in winter, but also that the pulse of the
nation's life shall continue to throb on warmly and cheerfully--in
short, so that Germany shall remain German.
The inhabitants of the German woodland villages have almost always a far
fresher, more individual, mental stamp than the inhabitants of the
villages of the plain.
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